The Leap of Faith
by King Mufasa
Summary: Stampede in the gorge! We all know what happened next, don't we? Life is unpredictable and so is this story. A leap of faith will change it all...
1. Prologue

**The characters of 'The Lion King' are property of The Walt Disney Company.  
The characters of 'The Chronicles of the Pride Lands' are property of John Burkitt and David Morris.**

**Thanks for your inspiration.**

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**Prologue**

Everything the light touches was his kingdom. It was a land of absolutely magnificence, with true beauty flourishing wherever you looked. From the gorge to the northwest that lead to the desolate desert, to the grassland to the south; many creatures lived together here in a delicate balance called the Circle of Life: from wildebeests to ants, from elephants to lions. The pride of lions had a king who did not only rule his own pride, but also this land for as far as the eye could see. A huge rock was the home of the pride of lions, but also the pride of other animals having great respect for their lion king. Therefore the rock was called Pride Rock and the surrounding lands were called the Pride Lands. For many generations the rock had witnessed much happiness and tragedy and had been there with the rise and fall of many lion kings. Today another of those tragedies would be add to history, making the Circle of Life turn around once more.

The only shadowing place the eye could meet from Pride Rock's view was the Elephant Graveyard beyond the northern border. It was the home of a hyena clan, banished from the Pride Lands by king Ahadi, the father of the current lion king Mufasa. The reason of their banishment had been trespassing in the Pride Lands, which one day resulted into the killing of the king brother's mate, Avina. Seeking revenge, Ahadi's brother Shaka had gone to the elephant graveyard for reclaiming justice. He was killed by several hyenas after killing one male hyena called Jalkort. This day had been the birth of the ongoing dispute between lions and hyenas, which made their hate for each other growing in their veins, passing on to their children. Hyenas had disrespected the Circle of Life and would have to pay for that for generations. This was extremely hard to swallow for the proud hyena clan, knowing the Elephant Graveyard lacked food, and therefore trespassing the Pride Lands became usual business for them. The most fanatic were the offspring of Jalkort: three hyenas called Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. They often traveled to the Pride Lands, scavenging for food. Usually they would be driven off by lions, often king Mufasa. It made them hate the lions even more: a lion killed their father, his brother banished their clan and his nephew would drive them off so they could barely get any food. In his land of blossoming life and respect, Mufasa had made some dangerous enemies.

Only yesterday the hyena trio had tried to kill two lion cubs. One was the king's son and therefore the current heir of the Pride Lands, prince Simba. The other was his best friend Nala, many thought one day she would be betrothed to Simba and become the next queen of the Pride Lands. The couple of curious cubs had gone to the Elephant Graveyard, driving themselves into the deadly danger of hungry and hateful hyenas. Mufasa had come just in time to save the cubs or they would have ended up as hyena meal. It had made him furious to his son for disobeying him, but also very worried for what could have happened.

He could never have expected what was to come: A day of ultimate tragedy, a day of a challenge bigger than life. The sun would rise once more, to unfold a day in which faith would take a new direction: a king would fall as if it was bound to happen.

It was the Leap of Faith.


	2. To Die For

**To Die For**

The sun was rolling high to the sapphire sky making the Pride Lands resolve its beauty once again. The weather was beautiful and many animals were making their daily morning routines. Elephant were washing themselves clean at the waterhole; giraffes were reaching for the highest leaves of an acacia tree as they considered them the most tasteful. Some meerkats were guarding their colony in case predators would show up. Somewhere to the east a cheetah was hunting down some antelope and succeeded in killing a weakened one. The morning had promised a beautiful day with no troubles expected, but no one would have expected the disrupting events that were about to happen.

Walking through his life-breathing lands was the lion king Mufasa witnessing the beauty of another day in his kingdom. He patrolled its borders every day, so he was prepared for trespassers and he was also able to get much information about the wellbeing of his kingdom. With this information he was able to react in a proper way, in case conflicts or other problems would rise. He considered it very important to keep the Pride Lands a glorious land to live for every single creature and being proactive and motivated was the only way to reach this goal. To be more effective he had appointed a majordomo who kept him informed of everything, from the creeping ant to the leaping antelope. This majordomo was a hornbill called Zazu. This bird usually accompanied the king or he flew off alone to inform him of all important matters in the Pride Lands. Nothing would escape the little hornbill, which the king saw as an asset, but some other animals as a treat. The serious and aristocratic Zazu was both loved and hate, respected as majordomo but sometimes valued as nothing more than a tattletale. Zazu was very proud of his position and despite his sometimes arrogant behavior; he was Mufasa's most loyal companion.

This morning Mufasa walked thoughtfully near the north-western gorge thinking about what had happened the day before, when his son escaped to the Elephant Graveyard and got himself almost killed by three hyenas. He worried about Simba's careless behavior, which often resulted for the young prince in getting himself in danger, but yesterday his son had truly been on the edge of life. He tried to come up with ideas to prevent such dangers in the future, but he hadn't succeeded yet in finding a satisfying one. It had been a relief for him that this morning his brother Scar decided to take a walk off with Simba so he wouldn't be alone getting himself in danger. He wasn't a very big fan of his brother, since his behavior was usually sarcastic and intimidating. The king knew his brother desperately wanted to be king and this had become worse when Simba had been born, knowing that he would never have a chance to become king. This deception had turned Scar into a bitter, dark, frustrated lion. But the king realized that despite his behavior, his proud brother would never harm his own family or a pride member, as Scar was already too lazy to hunt one gazelle himself. Therefore he knew Simba was in safe paws.

It was then when Zazu saw the huge cloud of dust rising from the nearby gorge. He had accompanied the king sitting on his shoulder and hadn't said very much until now.

"Look, Sire, the herd is on the move", Zazu said.

"Odd", responded the king.

Zazu's remark made the lion snap back to reality for he didn't understand at all how this could be happening. This was not a normal stampede, as the herd of wildebeests had only settled themselves last month and wouldn't move this soon again. They must have been driven off by some creature and he couldn't guess which animal that could be. His lionesses would only go hunting in the evening and a single cheetah or leopard would not be able to cause something like this enormous stampede.

Then his thoughts got cut off by the presence of Scar. He hadn't seen him coming and he was shocked when he saw that Simba was nowhere to be seen. Then he saw the panic in his brother's eyes which made him quiver with fear, as he didn't want to hear the horrible but inevitable news.

"Mufasa, quick! Stampede in the gorge. Samba is down there!"

His breath stuck and his mind froze as he couldn't accept what he was hearing: his son was in a life threatening danger that was even more serious than all possibilities he had been thinking about. The cub was in the same gorge as hundreds of wildebeests were passing through, running blinded of fear forming a deadly, inescapable stampede.

"Simba?" he uttered in ultimate fear.

It was then that his instincts took over. Without further thinking he started running in the direction of the gorge, followed closely by Scar and Zazu. The only thing on his mind was his son's security. He couldn't understand how this could have happened, but he could only hope Simba would remain unharmed. He started reasoning. What was the chance a lion cub would survive a horror like this? It made him shiver; only thinking about finding his son dead already ripped his heart apart.

Approaching the gorge his worst nightmare became true. The extremely large herd of wildebeests was passing through the gorge, driven by fear, madness, and a desire for survival. It was an inevitable run; they definitely had to run after each other to avoid being trampled to death. It was an odd thing to realize: as inevitable as the proceeding stampede was, as inevitable was also the death of the victims on their way. Their struggle for survival would result in the death of other animals. This also was the Circle of Life, but not a part Mufasa wished his son to be part of. He shivered for a moment, while looking around for Simba. It was a desperate effort as the clouds of dust rising from the stampede made a clear view impossible. Zazu flew ahead, for him it was possible to get much closer to the stampede while hoping he would find Simba alive.

The little hornbill realized that he had drawn his own faith at this very moment; he knew that there was a chance that he would become a messenger of death today, the messenger that would bring sorrow and disaster to the ones he most respected. His position as the king's majordomo had brought him so much joy and respect. According to the king's protocol it was absolutely prohibited for any creature to harm him; so he could live his life as he wished, without having fear to be eaten. Therefore he felt much connection with Mufasa and his family especially with Simba. Despite being teased and bullied a lot by him, he realized he actually loved the cub as if it was his own. He didn't want to believe something bad had happened to Simba and reassured himself that he would find the prince safe, as he had done before at the Elephant Graveyard only yesterday.

The opposite was true this time. The wildebeests did have no mercy on their deadly run. In the middle of the stampede stood a lonely death tree. Hanging in this tree was a golden brown lion cub, desperately trying to avoid falling. His fall would end the life of a cub, a beloved son and the current heir of the Pride Lands. It would mark this day as one of the darkest in the history of the Pride Lands.

Simba wanted to live, maybe more than any wildebeest in the stampede, but life wasn't granted.

"Zazu, help me", he cried when he saw the blue hornbill approaching.

"Your father is on the way. Hold on!" he responded, his voice full of regret knowing he was so close to him and still not able to do anything.

"Hurry!" Simba pressed his need for help even more.

It had been a senseless conversation, but at least Zazu knew where the rescue should take place. He flew back to Mufasa and Scar as fast as he could. He found them standing on the edge of the gorge, looking down at the stampede with a mix of horror and fear. Mufasa looked as if he could start crying any moment, fearing he would have to face the inevitable confirmation of Simba's death. Scar's face was full of disbelief and horror. It was a horror so big that it blacked out any other emotion, so it remained an absolute mystery what Scar was actually going through. They both looked at the little hornbill with mixed curiosity about what they would hear.

"There, there, in that tree!" Zazu pointed Simba's location out to Mufasa.

Then he saw his son. He lived, for now. It wouldn't take long anymore before the tree that divided life and death would collapse. Mufasa could not reach him, could not help him, but could only scream to him.

"Hold on Simba!" he screamed knowing Simba couldn't hold on.

He knew Simba couldn't hold on. Whether it would be a crashing wildebeest or the cub's own weight: the tree would collapse. The king was on borrowed time. What was he going to do? There was almost no time left, the only thing that was left was a small hope the turn of events would have a happy end. It was then that the tree started shaking heavily after being hit by a wildebeest. Simba's paws almost couldn't hold him anymore, realizing this he produced a horrible scream.

Mufasa had cared for so much in life, at that very moment he only cared for his son's wellbeing. It made him face the horror as he jumped down from his safe ledge, straight into the stampede.

His son's last desperate scream had driven him crazy. He couldn't witness the horrible scenario that was about to unfold and would rather be part of his own tragedy than witnessing his son's.

This day had become the ultimate test of the bond between father and son: a bond stronger than life. The Circle of Life had to move on.

Zazu saw the immense tragedy further unfolding. The moment Mufasa vanished into the stampede felt to him as a suicide attempt. He knew that the king would surely die out there. Fearing the worst for Mufasa and Simba, thinking straight had become almost impossible. Next to him was Scar, who didn't move at all.

"O, Scar, this is awful. What do we do? What do we do? I go back for help, yes I go back for help!"

He didn't have a chance. A paw struck him, knocking him unconscious against the wall.

With a mix of rage, desperation and intense fear, was the mighty king heading for his goal: saving his son. He had a deadly strong determination that no wildebeest could kick out of him. His decision to face the horrifying stampede was one of no return. There was no way out and there was hardly a way up. The only way was directed by the endless stream of wildebeests, forming a deadly and dangerous river in which there was no place for giving in.

There was no way Mufasa would give in, but the ambassadors of death were everywhere around him. Finally there was some space and he managed to turn around, so that things would become even more dangerous. Now he was running against the stampede, desperately trying to reach his son without getting hit. He tried to dodge the wildebeests but this was nearly impossible. He received a massive blow in his chest and fell down, screaming of horror and pain. Not knowing if he had bruised or even broken some ribs, he looked up. All that was counting was the nearby dead tree, which formed the distinction between life and death, between happiness and despair, between hope and horror. He knew he was almost there to prevent his son's doomed faith.

There was a sound, a crack and a scream. The dead tree that had become so important in just a few minutes got hit by a wildebeest and broke down, sending Simba flying in the air. Mufasa was stunned for a moment, until just one thing came on his mind: he had a chance; he had one small chance to save his beloved son. Therefore he had to aim incredibly right, it was now or never.

The young prince was desperately screaming for his life, there was nothing that could save him now. Then he heard a roar. Mufasa had jumped and shut his jaws safely around his son's small body. Simba could feel his father's heavy breathing and though he was still trembling with fair he knew he was safe for now.

The king felt incredibly relieved when he felt the cub between his jaws. It was only for a moment because they were still in big danger. He sped up to run with the stampede again when he received a huge blow from his right side. He moaned in pain, making him drop his son.

Simba landed and became terrified when he saw the dark creatures running towards him. He tried to dodge them as good as possible and since he was very small this was easier for him than it had been for his father. Although he knew that one mistake would be fatal, it would instantly kill the cub without having any chance. He would not make it if this would take much longer. Between the mile stream of wildebeests appeared one enraged lion, lifting him up again. Nothing would withhold the king from his son this time, so they resumed their way for survival.

They made it to a small ledge. Mufasa managed to drop Simba on this ledge and was trying to get himself to safety, but the stampede hadn't seen the last of him as he was dragged into it again.

"Dad!" Simba screamed terrified.

The huge lion was surrounded by many hooves, forming clouds of dust that blinded his sight. His wounds made him suffer heavily, but there was still some power in him. He still had the power to believe, in fact he still believed in a future alive. He had to live for his family, his pride, his kingdom. He would live to see another sunrise and looking up there was a glimmer of hope. He saw the steep wall of the gorge. He had to make a physical sacrifice in order to survive. Pushing himself beyond his pain limits, beyond what his condition would allow him he jumped with an enormous roar out of the stampede. With extended claws he pushed his paws with all his power into the wall. Then he started climbing, slowly but strongly determined to reach the safe haven.

Simba felt very relieved when he saw his father jumping from the stampede, at that moment he knew he would make it. After the gorge wall blocked his view, he started climbing up to the nearby ledge where he could see his father again, waiting for a reunion of which he could have only dreamt of only minutes ago.

Climbing a very steep wall like this was extremely hard for the severely injured lion, but there was no lion with a similar stamina and strength as king Mufasa possessed. These final assets made him go on until the wall became that steep that even he wasn't able to continue. All that remained for him was digging his paws deeply into the gorge wall in order to avoid falling down, but he knew his paws couldn't bear his full weight for long. His hind paws had no grip and were only catching air. He knew he was in big trouble at that moment, so he looked up for help. He saw Scar standing on the nearby ledge.

"Scar, brother! Help me!"

His voice trembled with fear; his cry was one of despair, a cry for survival. He couldn't hold himself much longer and he felt his last power slip away. He saw his brother standing and knew it was his only hope. A hope that slowly started to fade as his brother didn't respond his cry for life.

All Scar did was watching his brother struggling for his life. He looked thoughtful, like he was considering whether he should help his brother or not. This few seconds seemed to Mufasa like they took hours. He didn't understand what was going on and he was becoming more desperate as several seconds passed. If he didn't get help within a few moments, he wouldn't make it alive.

Simba was almost at the top of the gorge, longing for his father's warm embrace. He couldn't wait for the moment he knew for sure that both of them were safe and had survived the horrible turn of events. The frightened cub wanted his father's company that would give him the secure feelings he had lacked for too long. Their reunion would mark the end of a nightmare that had become reality, but that end wouldn't come.

At that moment Scar sealed his brother's faith. He dug his claws deeply into his Mufasa's paws, making him scream of pain and horror. It was then that the horrible realization came into his mind: he had been betrayed by his own brother. He couldn't accept this and the pain it brought him was so much heavier than all the physical pain he was already dealing with. The only thing he saw was Scar's face coming closer to his. His look was one of intense hate and no regret. His brother hated him! All he had ever wanted was to become king and it was until know that Mufasa couldn't have thought Scar would go this far. He wouldn't even mind to murder his own brother, if that was necessary to become king. The thoughts made the helpless king shiver as he heard his brother's words coming in as deadly arrows piercing his heart and hope:

"Long live the king."

The words were the seal of his doomed faith, as death couldn't be prevented anymore. It was done. Shocked as hell he had his final views of the sky. He was thrown back and the only thing remaining was falling down. It seemed like an endless fall with an inevitable end: the mighty king Mufasa was falling towards his death while screaming of the horror that had struck him. The last thing he heard was a very high scream, higher of his own. The last thing he saw was a lion cub, looking terrified at him; the cub was a witness of death, which was creating a memory that would haunt him for the rest of his life. The next moment was one of an intense blackness: the sun had set on the lion king.


	3. Long Live the King

**Author's Note: This chapter is a revision of my original 'Long Live the King' chapter. The storyline is still the same, but I changed Simba's point of view to make it fit his character better. In this chapter he is still a cub, but in the original chapter his thoughts reflect those of an adult. Therefore I felt a revision was needed. I want to give a special thanks to CarminaxBuranax who pointed this out to me in his review and inspired me to change my Simba's thoughts in order to make them better fit the cub as we all know him.**

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**Long Live the King**

The herd had finally passed. It left a battlefield behind where a king had fought for his son, his kingdom and his life. It was not clear yet what was lost and what was left, but there would be victims for sure. Today had become a day of disaster and sorrow which would traumatize the magnificent Pride Lands for generations. The haunting memory of this apocalyptic ambush cannot be described, except for those who have experienced the hurt, sorrow and fear of loss themselves. Therefore they will try to do so, in order to share their thoughts on that fateful day.

Remember…

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Simba

I couldn't believe he was gone. My dad was the strongest lion I knew, he was good at everything. He learned me pouncing and roaring and hunting and playing and so many more things about that Circle of Life thing. He was the king so everybody had to listen to him and they did! He once said being king was more than getting your way all the time, but he always got his way. To me he was always nice, he was never mean and I liked him very much. If I made a mistake, he would still help me. He always helped me even when I got in big trouble with the hyenas. Dad had appeared when I was the least expecting it; together we had escaped that scary Elephant Graveyard. Dad escaped any danger, no one could beat him. He was a real hero.

That stampede was the most horrible thing I had ever seen. It happened because of me, I roared which started it. It was me again who had brought others in danger: yesterday it had been Nala and Zazu; today my dad had fought for his life. And he couldn't fail, my dad never failed. But something made this situation different. Dad's screaming during his fall and scared me so much, as it wasn't anything near like I knew him. I really wanted to help him, but I couldn't do anything. At least the stampede had gone now so I was able to search for him.

I jumped down in the gorge, which was filled with clouds of dust so I could hardly see anything. I coughed and tried to look around. Everything was so silent, a big difference to the loud noise the wildebeests made. It scared me, I had the strong fear that something terrible had happened, but I was not willing to accept it. I was all alone; there were no signs of Uncle Scar or Zazu, but for me that didn't matter now. Only my dad mattered and I knew he couldn't be far away. I would find him and we would go home as usual.

Then I heard a sound so I pointed my ears. Someone was running towards me!

"Dad?" I asked.

A small wildebeest came running towards me; it was a real slowpoke as it must have lost the herd. I followed its direction until I saw the broken dead tree, which had saved my life until dad showed up. What shocked me much more was the creature that was lying under the tree. It was very big and it lay lifeless on its side. No, it couldn't be…

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Mufasa

There I lay. Broken, bruised and betrayed. It had diminished my existence. There was no way that my current state could be described as 'alive'. My state had to be a sort of vegetative, as I felt like my body and spirit didn't connect anymore. I thought I was on the bridge between life and death and like this I preferred to be dead. But I knew some part of me was still alive as an intense pain haunted my broken body. It totally consumed my senses, making any move or reaction impossible. However, I was still able to hear and to smell. Therefore I would find out soon things were to become even worse.

Then I heard a sound. At least I was still able to hear, but I didn't know if I had to be happy with that. If I could, this sound would have send shivers down my spine. It was only a soft sound, but it was the same sound that had haunted me in a much louder way during the last fully conscious moments of my life. It was the sound of a running wildebeest and I could hear that it had to be a single one. The wildebeest ran besides me into the same direction as the stampede had headed. It was probably a slow one that had lost the herd. Then I heard another sound, I heard small footsteps running towards me! I was wondering what creature this was when it spoke, apparently to me:

"Dad?"

My son was alive!

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Simba

It was really him. I shivered as I couldn't believe how horrible he looked. He lay down on his side, covered with dust in a very strange way. His eyes were closed and as he looked as if he were in quite some pain, which made me feel guiltier. I shouldn't have let this happen. I hoped he was just sleeping, but he looked so different now and he didn't snooze. I always hated when he snoozed, but now I would have given anything to make him snooze. I dropped my ears and against the odds I started talking to him:

"Dad?" I asked hopefully.

Somehow it felt useless, but I still hoped he would hear me. Talking to him made me feel like everything was ok so it eased my fear a little.

"Dad, come on. You got to get up."

I tried pulling his chest. His reaction was lifeless, as his body dropped back in the original way. He wouldn't move at all and the only thing I felt was his dusty body.

I walked to his face, trying to lift his head up.

"Come on dad, we got to go home."

Again, there was no reaction. His head dropped in the same way as I had lifted it. It couldn't be true that he was really gone.

Then I did something desperate: I tried to pull his ear. Dad would always wake up if I did that, it must have been quite annoying for him but he never complained about it. He never complained about anything to me, he was always nice to me except for when I disobeyed him. I knew when I really had to listen to him.

I hoped he would listen to me, that he would hear me and that he was making a really bad joke. I knew I was wrong as he didn't react, which made me lose my last hope. I realized he was truly gone.

I ran away, crying for help.

"Please, help me! Somebody…! Anybody…!"

The only reaction I heard was my own echo. I had never felt as lonely before as I did that very moment. No one could help me now, I had messed up everything. As I looked back at his lifeless body I realized we would never play again. Why did he have to go? Now we would never be happy together again and it was all because of me. Saving my life had cost him his own and this simply wasn't fair. I felt so guilty and alone and I was no longer able to hold back my tears. They started streaming down my cheeks. I lost control as I wasn't able to think about a life without him.

For the very last time I longed for his comfort. I walked to his lifeless body that was still warm like he was just sleeping. I put his paw over my own sobbing body so it would look that dad was embracing me. Then I cried my heart out as I truly hoped it would wake him up.

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Mufasa

I didn't think there is something more horrifying as the pain of a child. A child has to be innocent, happy and energetic. Pain is something that will come with the years as innocence will be replaced with the hard truth: life's not fair. For me life was absolutely worthless at my last moments as they felt like a humiliating execution.

The first moment I heard Simba's voice was quite relieving because I knew he had survived. But al happiness had gone from his voice and instead it had been filled with fear and disbelieve. I must have looked horrible as he approached me, desperately calling me. I wanted to embrace him, to comfort him saying everything was alright, though I knew it was not. My body had become numb; I was nothing more than a tortured spirit in a broken body.

I knew I hadn't lost all my senses as I was able to hear him and I could also feel some of his movements, but I wished I couldn't as it was too sad to bear. He desperately tried to lift me up while calling me and talking to me. He even pulled my ear because he knew that always woke me up. Of course it didn't this time so I knew this would confirm his fear I was dead. I was not dead yet, but this was even worse. I couldn't do anything to relieve my son's sorrow and I needed to go through all parts of this horrible realization.

Besides all my broken bones my heart also broke at the very moment he started sobbing. I wanted to help him, to comfort him; I wanted to make him happy again like the cub I remembered so well. He desperately tried to embrace me as he lay down under my paw. I felt his warm tears streaming down from his eyes, touching my dusty fur. I couldn't do anything about it; for the first time in my life I felt totally powerless…

I truly underestimated Scar's lust for power. Why was I never able to believe he would spoil everything in order to become king? Why did I never notice that his frustration and disappointment could result into treachery? The love for my brother had blinded me for all those warning signs. I should have known better. He had grown detached from the pride with the years and wanted to see me dead as his only desire was power, not love. His sarcastic, retreating behavior had been clear signs of danger I hadn't wanted to see. His jealousy and my lack to take care of this had killed both of us, him internal, and me external. But the thing I really couldn't stand was that Simba had to suffer for our brotherly deception. This cub didn't do anything wrong and he was only involved because he was my son and his nephew. Why did he let him suffer too, why did he let him live?

The last question really shocked me. I realized that in order to become king, Scar had to kill not only me, but Simba too. This scared me because I knew Scar was still around somewhere. If he would find Simba, it wasn't hard to guess what would happen. Simba was in really danger here, he should go home. He had to hide for my blood thirsting brother who wouldn't rest until he would finally become king. Talking about him, I heard a male lion voice whispering in a soft tone:

"Simba… what have you done?"

It was him.

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Simba

I felt like I cried for hours, but it may have been only a few minutes. Because of my heavy sobs I didn't hear uncle Scar coming near. His footsteps had been very quiet as was his voice when he spoke to me with that striking question: What have I done? I didn't know why this had happened, but something inside me changed. It couldn't have been only me who did this; I didn't want to kill my own dad! I was just a cub, how could I have started a stampede like this just because of a roar? Dad had a surprise for me and I waited for him as I was told by uncle Scar. Besides that he fell down after he had saved me.

'It was an accident, I didn't mean for it to happen', I spoke with broken voice to my uncle.  
'Of course, of course you didn't. No one ever means for these things to happen', he answered.

He embraced me, trying to comfort me while I cried in his paw. As my uncle was my father's brother, he was the closest I could get to my dad now. I really liked his comfort, he seemed like he truly understood me. For a moment I felt a little bit less helpless.

"But the king is dead and if it weren't for you he would still be alive…"

I knew he was right. This sudden realization made my heart skip a beat. Dad fell down after he had saved me, so he wouldn't have been there if he didn't need to save me. Maybe I didn't want the stampede to come and dad didn't fall down because of me, but I had caused this chain of events with my roaring so what happened next was all because of me.

"O, what will your mother think?"

Thinking about her reaction really scared me. My mother would think I am a murderer, she wouldn't love me anymore! Nala would never want to play with me again. No one wants a cub that killed his own father.

"What am I going to do?" I asked.

His big green eyes looked at me, slamming the hard truth into my face.

"Run away Simba... _Run_**. **_Run away and never return_**.**"

One more time I looked at my fallen father. There was no life left in this place for me. Sick of lost hope and sorrow I ran away, never wanting to return.

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Mufasa

Simba believed his uncle's lies again. Scar made him feel as if he was to blame for all of this, taking away his confidence little by little. He couldn't be serious. After almost killing his own brother, he put the blame on his nephew? He blamed a cub who was dealing with the grief of his father's supposed death for getting trapped in a wildebeest stampede? I didn't know what Simba was doing out there, but I knew he was with Scar. The cub couldn't be blamed for something that was far beyond his imagination. He wasn't able to understand the concept of an ambush that would have to mean our deaths. Scar knew I would do anything to save my son and I did. Now my son's faith lay in his paws and I knew nothing good could turn out from that.

Everything he said made things even worse and made me boiling with anger, from his faked compassion to his cold-hearted findings. He was far more heartless, hypocrite and dangerous than I could have ever imagined. Simba's broken voice made it even worse as it was filled with heavy grief. All innocence had gone from it as today had marked the end for his careless childhood. I didn't know what exactly would happen, but I knew he would never be the same.

I was scared about what would happen next, I feared the worst for my son. Somehow I tried to reassure myself that Scar wouldn't lower himself to such a dirty job but I had already overestimated him several times. Anything could happen now.

As if the cub hadn't been traumatized enough, he succeeded his torture with those final words:

"Run away Simba... _Run_**. **_Run away and never return_**."**

Exile. I hoped for a second that Simba wouldn't listen to him, but it was lost hope. Everything was lost as I heard my son and future king running away. With that my thoughts faded, since there was nothing left for me. The most important part of my life was gone, so the tortured final chapter of my life had become hollow and meaningless. It was time.

Then I smelled a familiar smell, a smell I knew so well and I detested so much. Hyenas!

"Kill him", Scar spoke with a bitter voice.

His dream would be fulfilled. The monster was loose as were his stupid servants who were on a mission to end the life of an innocent cub. I heard those growling fading away in the same direction as Simba had run. I heard Scar saying something but I wasn't able to distinguish words. I saw a flash of light, blacking out any perception of reality what was left. After this depressing chain of events my only way was upwards now.

* * *

Simba

I had become an exile. Dad told me only murderers would be exiled, like the hyenas, so I was a murderer. I would never become king as I would die alone with no family or friends around. I had managed to escape from the hyenas, but the injuries from falling in those thorns had drained my last hope out of me. I stopped running. I looked up to the sky and saw the stars, I wondered if dad would be up there as he promised me. Then in a sudden wave all emotions I held back the past hours overwhelmed me.

"I am sorry! I am truly sorry! I didn't mean for it to happen! Please forgive me, dad, please forgive me!"

Of course there was no answer as dad must be very angry because of what I have done. I truly disappointed him, for the second time in just two days. Dad had told me the Great Kings of the Past would always be there to guide me. Now I knew I would never be guided, as I would never be loved again. I didn't deserve any love or guidance, I deserved to be dead.

I couldn't go home anymore to live happily with my mum and other lionesses. Uncle Scar was right when he exiled me; he did it for my own wellbeing. After all these things that I have done, he still thought about what was right for me. I would never forget how nice he has been for me. However, I didn't know what to do now.

My body didn't allow me to move and I fainted in the cold sand. No words could describe my current feelings of sadness. I hoped the desert would swallow me as I gave up. I blacked out, not knowing if I would ever see the light again.


	4. Great Kings of the Past

**Author's Note:**

**I apologize for the long time it took to update. For those who haven't read it yet: I posted an edited version of my 'Long Live the King' chapter.**

**When there is a specific character's point of view, its name is mentioned **like this **at the start of the section. Not mentioning any character's name at the start of a section means that there is a general, third-person view.**

**Besides that I also want to ask you to review my chapters. I really appreciate reviews, they motivate me to write more ****(which means faster updates!)**** and they emphasize the good things and what can be done better. I really want to learn, so please take the small amount of time to write a review or comment ****(reading my story takes longer!)** **so I can improve the story and I can improve my writing ****(better writing is more enjoyable!)****. It is a small contribution that can help a lot. Thanks you very much and enjoy the next chapter!**

**Great Kings of the Past**

* * *

Scar

I was surrounded with dust from the anonymous assassins that had passed through, guiding my path to glory. The sun had set on the Pride Lands, but it was rising for king Scar. It was something that was hard to realize yet, but this day truly legitimated my existence. My plan finally succeeded after years of inferior living in my brother's shadow. From now on, I would only see the light of my fulfilled dream: I would become the lion king.

I looked at his slain body. I was no warrior, but my strategic mastermind had been able to overthrow him. No one ever acknowledged my incredible talents, therefore I had to prove them myself and it worked. That lucky bastard of a brother and his pathetic little excuse for a prince were finally gone. Even a wildebeest stampede was almost not enough for killing them, therefore I had to finish 'the mighty king' himself. The thought about my brother's last moments brought a grin on my face. That look on his face was priceless! His look reflected the realization that tough times would arrive for him, a look that hadn't been there for far too long. He truly underestimated me, but who hadn't?

I had always been a nobody, a dropout, an outcast who didn't belong anywhere. Yes, I was the king's brother but for what did that count? Who did ever think better of me because of that? I truly longed for more acknowledgement and affection, but everything had been taken away from me. My life had been torn down piece by piece; love and happiness were perishing things who didn't like my faith. I loved my parents, but my father rejected my most coveted dream: being king. My father made a mistake in choosing Mufasa as heir: I had always been the clever one, while Mufasa was a lazy dreamer who only possessed strength. Mufasa pretended to be there for me, to be my brother who seemed to care for me. But everything he did created a bigger gap between us which would become impossible to bridge. He was the king, I was nothing more than thrash as reflected by my former name I deprived so much: Taka. He truly betrayed me when he stole my love. I loved Sarabi a lot and she loved me too as we were inseparable from dawn to dusk. Mufasa often joined us, but the naive dreamer was just a playful cub while we were determining our future. Everything we did together as cubs strengthened our close friendship which one day would result into something more. We prepared each other to take the oath of unconditional love as we chose to be betrothed. However, when tough times arrived in which I almost lost myself, she left me. When I returned to Pride Rock, she was gone, driven in the paws of that sucking Mufasa.

My loss had been symbolized in the miserable existence of Simba. His features reflected his father's: dumb and naïve. Their cub was a symbol of my betrayal and lost hope and he shouldn't have lived. I was glad the hyenas would end his disgraceful life now. My life had been scarred and I would have to live with this, resurrecting in king Scar with my only lasting attribute: power.

I looked up as I heard the familiar sound of slobbering hyenas coming near. Shenzi, Banzai and Ed came walking towards me. I truly hoped that these imbeciles were able to get rid of the cub this time.

"Did you finish the job?" I asked coldly.

For a moment they looked at each other, making me nervous, until Banzai spoke up:

"Of course, boss, that brat will not bother you anymore."

I felt very relieved knowing my plan has succeeded. Simba's last moments must have been absolutely enjoyable and I somehow regretted I couldn't have been a part of it. Despite that, I wanted to know everything about it:

"Nice job. What did you do with him?" I asked.

"Let's say that the little one has become a real cactus-butt", Shenzi answered giggling.

So they had thrown him off the cliff that marked the edge between the Pride Lands and the desert. Now this sounded familiar: like father, like son. For some reason Shenzi and Ed really liked her silly joke as they laughed their asses off. Banzai looked quite annoyed; maybe he did not have that bad taste of humor at all.

I smiled. My plan had worked, now it was time for the next step.

"I am going back to Pride Rock. We will meet there at sunset. I will call the pride together to announce the news, so be there in time with your troops unless you want to miss the party!" I grinned.

With that I was off. Victory had never tasted so good.

* * *

The sun set on the Pride Lands, evaporating the light Mufasa had brought during his reign. The king had gone with the light, together with the horrible scenery of the gorge. Everything the light touched had been replaced by a pouring blackness in which absolutely no life was recognizable. However, within the shadowland was one beaming radiance left, spreading the last spark of hope. It enlightened the king, turning his appearance into a glowing white of which it was unclear whether this was due to his current state or just because of the light.

He opened his eyes.

"Simba…" he whispered.

Everything he saw was black. There was nothing to be seen except for his own appearance that had regained some of the magnitude he used to have. Despite of his desolate surroundings he tried to find the strength to get up. This didn't take much effort as the soaring pain was gone, together with every other sign of physical life. However, the inflicted trauma was still visible as his regal composure had been replaced by a fearful uncertainty of what was to come.

He looked around with the same eyes that had witnessed the haunting tragedy that was still reflected into his frightened face. He looked for points of recognition and found the one small star that revealed his appearance. He started walking towards the only source of guidance; his thoughts were frozen and his body felt disconnected as his instincts led him to the light. With every step he took, the upcoming light increased in size. It became bigger than the biggest lion and it may have been bigger than Pride Rock when it stopped, so did its chaser.

Clouds started to emerge within the incredible white force of light. The clouds exceeded the light surrounding it, while growing bigger and forming the shape of an undetermined figure. The figure turned into a leonine shape, resolving his features little by little. His build was muscular, just like Mufasa, and he had the same golden-brown fur. His manes were black and his stern face used to have the same penetrating green eyes that resembled those of the now feared Scar. They had turned into white orbs which looked empty yet commanding.

Mufasa was staring motionless at the shining phenomenon in front of him. He knew this lion.

"Father?" he asked, not yet able to understand the impact of the unfolding events.

The leonine figure looked up, turning his face in Mufasa's direction. His empty eyes gave away a fateful look of obscurity within the white pool of light. They didn't shine like the sun, but spread a retaining determination. Ahadi had to see his son.

"Mufasa… have you forgotten me?" he asked with his deep powerful voice.

"Of course not! But what are you doing here?"

"It is better to ask what you are doing here", Ahadi parried his question, "but unfortunately I already know the answer. And if you think a little harder, you might as well."

Mufasa looked up at his father's appearance that was so familiar, but also very impressing. He had always dreamed to see his father one last time after his death. He knew that that would be impossible until his own time had come. This made him realize that that had happened. He had to be dead, though he was not willing to accept it. Death was the only way to see his father again and he was witnessing his resurrection in afterlife now. However, he still didn't want to believe it.

"Dad, I cannot be dead."

"Son, I know that it can be hard to accept the path you have taken. For me it is great to see you", Ahadi answered, "it is always great to see you except for that it is far too soon this time."

There was no way he could deny it anymore. Mufasa was dead; he had died in the gorge and was on his way to join the Great Kings of the Past among the stars with only his father in between. Struck by disbelieve he tried to look for words. He looked at his father and his face reminded him of the disgusting face that betrayed him, that was responsible for his current state: Scar.

"Dad… it was Scar. He…"

"I know what he did, son, I know everything he did because I see everything you see", Ahadi continued, "and because of that I am here."

"Why did he do it?"

Ahadi stopped for a moment. He looked down to the ground, with his face covered in sadness. The strong emotions that were written on his face penetrated Mufasa's heart at the moment he gave a much unexpected answer:

"I made him do it, son. I made him who he has become, as it was my fault to refuse taking care of him when I needed to", Ahadi responded, obviously hurt by the things he said himself.

Mufasa was stunned. His father was taking the blame for everything Scar did, something that didn't make sense at all to him. He saw his father as a devoted father and a great king who truly cared for the ones he loved. It couldn't be that the lion he considered as his hero felt responsible for the terrible tragedy that was caused by no other than Scar.

"No, dad, that is not true… You did not make Scar, you did not make the monster that he has become and that killed his own brother. Don't blame yourself; you cannot hold yourself responsible for a crime you didn't commit!"

"Mufasa let me tell you this. No one is born guilty. A crime grows as a slowly disease that cannot be fought when you find out that it has occurred. I created Scar because I scarred him; maybe I didn't do it physically, but I killed his soul by not giving what he desired."

"His only desire was becoming king! You could not give him that!"

"There was much more and you know that well, son. You know as well that the cub Taka was is not the same lion as Scar is today. I chose you as my heir and I never regretted that. However, I should have treated you equally because you are both my sons. You became my prince, but what did Taka become?"

Mufasa realized that the pain Scar caused to him started to suppress the good feelings he still had for his brother. He could still remember the lovely cub Taka used to be, how they played together and how they promised to be there for each other. It made him almost forget how things had changed, how the innocent Taka changed into the detached Scar who didn't care for anyone. He also couldn't remember well why he changed, why he turned from the open and carefree Taka into the careless Scar that seemed to hide any form of sincere emotion. Unfortunately, Ahadi provided the painful answer:

"He became a piece of thrash as I devaluated his existence. I created a dispute between you two that no heart could solve ever again. Your mother still tried to equal a balance that had been doomed at the moment I ruined it. I didn't care, Mufasa, I simply didn't care for him as I should have done until it was too late…."

He stopped for a moment, closing his eyes and looking away. Mufasa would swear he saw his father blinking a few tears away. Touched by what he just heard he responded:

"It hurt me that you blame yourself so much, father, as there was so much you did well. You gave me so much to live for, thanks to you I truly learned to care and to love. I learned to love my family, my pride and my kingdom and on top of that that I learned to love the great Circle of Life. And I love you, dad, whatever you did right or wrong."

Ahadi looked back at his son. Though he felt still sad, he was able to put a smile upon his face.

"I should have done that with Taka too…" he responded, "I mean I really love you, Mufasa, but I should have given Taka the same approach that turned you into the great lion you have become. Here I made a big mistake…"

Both lions fell silent. Ahadi felt too guilty to speak for a moment and Mufasa realized somehow that his father had indeed made a mistake. For him it was just very hard to take that even his biggest example wasn't infallible and that his apparent mistake would have so many consequences.

"Yes, my son, you have to realize that a price has to be paid for my mistake. And it happened; the price was paid by innocent lives. The dispute I created between Taka and you has even involved your son. You had to pay the highest price, your life. Besides that, I made my grandson lose his best friend; I made him lose the dad Taka never had…"

Ahadi was not longer able to resist the tears he felt coming up; they came down from his big white orbs like sparkling raindrops escaping from the clouds. Mufasa also felt a lump in his throat, blocking any appropriate or comforting words he wanted to say.

"However, it is still not too late to undo the mistake. Therefore I am here, my son…" Ahadi continued with broken voice, "I am here to send you back."

It took Mufasa a few moments to realize what his father was saying.

"You are WHAT?"

"I am sending you back, Mufasa. I will not let you proceed to join the Great Kings. I am here to block this path of injustice, to let you return to the ones you love the most, to the one that needs you the most: Simba."

He was absolutely stunned. After everything that had happened and his father had told him, he was now giving him a chance to escape death? He was granted the chance to live again as if nothing had happened? Once again he would be able to feel Sarabi's soft fur and to play with Simba. These thoughts already made him experience the joy that had been taken from him again. He felt incredibly grateful but on the other hand he was also scared. What would happen next? No one had ever risen from death before, how was it even possible? It was something that couldn't be done; he had abandoned his physical self and there was no possibility of return. Besides that, it also didn't feel right, because this interference would mean another heavy disruption of the Circle of Life.

"How can I go back? I am not who I used to be!" he asked.

Ahadi smiled confidently, he had already made his decision.

"It is not about who you are, but about who you will become. I give you the chance to live again, to be the king you want to be and, the most important, and to be the dad you need to be. Return, my son, we will meet again."

His last words were covered in the upcoming rumbling in the clouds that covered him. He slowly started to fade away, while giving a final smile to his son. Mufasa saw this and he realized his father was leaving him. Somehow he didn't want him to go, he felt as if his last part of security faded with Ahadi's ghost. As he had already lost so much, he definitely wanted him to stay.

"Father, no! Don't leave me."

He started running towards the clouds, desperately pleading his father to stay.

"Don't leave me."

Ahadi gave him a final look, becoming one with the clouds.

"Return and make me proud… once again"

He kept on running until he realized it didn't bring his father back.

"Return…"

It was time. He knew he had to return. He knew it was time to go back, though he didn't have a clue where he should be going. Nevertheless he started running in what he thought was the same direction he had come from. He vanished into the darkness, leaving the light that had supported him so much behind. The light started to shrink as it had grown when he had been running towards it. Now he was running again into the endless night until he felt his body becoming incredibly heavy. He felt the soaring pain entering his body again and going any further had become impossible. He collapsed, barely able to move.

He opened his eyes… again.


	5. Empty Spaces

**Empty Spaces**

"Moooooooooooooooooooooom!"

"Yeah yeah, I am here. What is it, darling?"

"I'm so bored. I couldn't find you and Simba is nowhere to be found…"

"But now I am here', Sarafina interrupted with a smile, 'and I see it is time for your bath so let's clean the boredom from your body."

She laughed, but her daughter felt slightly irritated as she tried to be serious. She ignored her mother's statement and resumed her questioning:

"Where could he be, mom?" Nala asked while her mother started cleaning her.

"You mean Simba?"

"Of course, who else? The last time I saw him was in the morning when he walked off with Scar. After that, I haven't seen him anywhere. I wanted to play with him but he was not there to play with, so therefore I am bored now."

Sarafina still didn't understand the point her daughter tried to make.

"But darling, how could you be bored when you slept the whole afternoon?"

"I only did that because Simba wasn't there!"

Sarafina widened her eyes as the realization suddenly struck her. Nala was right; Simba wasn't there and he wasn't the only one who had disappeared. She realized Mufasa was also gone since he had walked off this morning for his daily border patrolling. Where could they be? They could be together, that would be the most plausible explanation. Though they had little time for moments together due to Mufasa's kingly responsibilities, they always enjoyed the father-and-son moments a lot. Mufasa's love for his son and Simba's admiration for his father had made their bond almost inseparable. Sarafina thought about the day earlier, when Mufasa had taken Simba for a walk under the stars after the Elephant Graveyard incident. Everyone had been worried about what might have happened to them at that time, but it had been a false alarm as they returned home together and unharmed. Sarafina concluded that that would also be the case this time.

"Hello mom, are you listening to me? I was talking to you!" Nala started to sound impatiently.

"Of course, my dear, you just shouldn't worry too much. Simba may be spending some time with his father, they should be home soon. Remember yesterday when they also returned long after sunset."

She thought she would calm her daughter with this, but that wasn't the case at all. This was something she shouldn't have said as Nala's eyes widened, her pulse increased and her impatience faded into fear.

"But yesterday was also the day we almost got ourselves killed. What if something bad has happened to them, mom? What if Simba is in danger again and there is no one to save him?" she asked with trembling voice while getting herself up.

Sarafina looked into the worried eyes of her cub who had decided her bath was finished for now. The beautiful blue orbs still contained the horror of the Elephant Graveyard. The events of the day before had affected her deeply and she hadn't recovered from it yet. Now she was in even more stress because of Simba's missing instead of the relaxation she actually needed. Without her best friend being around she started to feel really bored. Given the fact that she hadn't slept well last night she fell asleep until moments ago. She realized Simba still hadn't returned and this finding scared her. Somehow she had a bad feeling about this, though she didn't have a reason why. However, her mother didn't seem to understand her fear at all and that made her feel even more uncomfortable.

Sarafina realized that referring to the incident at the Elephant Graveyard wasn't a very good idea. She was beginning to feel worried herself too. First there had been her sister Uzuri who had a really bad feeling about something she couldn't determine. Then there was her daughter who had a really bad feeling about Simba and – in a lesser extent – about Mufasa too. What would be the next step? Would she find out that something terrible had indeed occurred or were her sister and daughter just getting a little paranoid? Both scenarios seemed unlikely to her, but because of this uncertainty she couldn't prevent the doubts from entering her mind. They started to affect her wellbeing as she became more and more stressful. She could only hope that she would soon find out the truth so she could put her deteriorating feelings aside.

Nala looked up to her mother, trying to get rid of her sad feelings but her face betrayed the crawling uncertainty she couldn't let go:

"Mom, I am scared. I don't want anything bad to happen to Simba."

Sarafina somehow regained her composure as she answered her daughter in a voice that appeared confidently:

"Nothing bad will happen to him, he is with Mufasa", Sarafina tried to reassure both her daughter and herself.

It didn't work. With every word she said Nala felt only more insecure, becoming more and more upset. She tried to be confident, but she definitely wasn't. The fact that her mother didn't come to the point and came up with the same excuses irritated her and confirmed her uncomfortable feeling. Her mother never wanted to tell her anything bad and always told her everything would be alright. Because of this she often felt that she didn't tell her the truth. Thinking about this, she felt a long hidden frustration boiling up: she wanted to know the truth.

"Why are you always telling me the same things? You don't the half about it, mom! You are just saying everything will be alright because I am a cub and bad news is something for grownups. But that is not fair, mom, I want to know what is going on. If something has gone wrong, tell me, because I will also have to deal with it. Besides that, I want to help; I want to help Simba, because he is my best friend!"

Tears started to fill her eyes as she wasn't able to withhold her emotions anymore. Her sudden outburst shocked her mother who was also upset now. Her daughter suspected her of being dishonest, but that was definitely not true. She was absolutely honest as she hadn't a clue of what had happened neither. It hurt her that her daughter spoke to her in a tone like this, but that was a problem which she would deal with at another time. The only thing that counted right now was Mufasa and Simba's safety that she started to doubt more and more as Nala continued her pleading:

"I care for him, mom, I really do. He is my best friend and I should help him. I can't stay here, just sitting like nothing has happened: I am going to look for him!"

Sarafina was lost for words. She realized that her daughter might be right; something bad might have happened to the king and his son. She definitely hoped Nala was wrong. She tried to think of alternatives and reasons why everything was alright. However, her thoughts were cut off when she saw Nala running away.

"NALA", she screamed not able to hide her fear anymore, "you aren't going anywhere!"

Nala stopped and looked back with a scared look because of her mother's screaming. Sarafina noticed her fear and she felt immediately sorry for her cub who she didn't want to scare any more than she already was. She forced a friendly smile despite her troubled thoughts and lowered her face till it was on the same level as her daughter's:

"Please Nala, I really appreciate that you care so much for Simba but you cannot go walking off on your own. You know how dangerous it can be if something has indeed happened to him. You know what happened yesterday and there is no way in the world I want to lose you too. So please stay here while I am going to talk with Sarabi about what we should do."  
"But mom, if something has happened I don't want to just sit here and wait… I want to help. And just because I am a cub, I am worthless. I feel so bad about that!"

She tried to blink her tears away, but couldn't prevent a single one coming down from her eye. Sarafina tried to comfort her by expressing her compassion in a comforting smile.

"You are not worthless, my darling, don't ever say that again. You are a caring friend and that is a really wonderful quality, keep that in mind. Simba will be really happy to see you when he returns."

"If he returns", Nala answered with a cynical tone.  
"We can only hope for that. Have faith, I will be right back."

She nuzzled her daughter and ran off, looking for the queen.

* * *

She had retreated herself back in the royal den on the spot where she use to sleep with her loved ones. Now Queen Sarabi had a look on her face that was as empty as the spot she was staring at. However, her mind was full of thoughts as she felt really worried about the wellbeing of both her mate and son. It was the second day in sequence that she experienced a sunset without her family being around. The day before she had been worried too; the last thing she knew then was that Mufasa headed to the Elephant Graveyard after Zazu had alarmed him about something going on there. However, Mufasa and Simba returned unharmed long after the Great Kings of the Past had settled themselves among the sky. This time she knew absolutely nothing and this made her feel even more worried. Her instincts told her something terrible had occurred, but she wasn't willing to give in to the negative thoughts. She tried to fight them as she dug away the stressful moments. Mufasa would never fail; he would go through anything for his son's sake. Whatever trouble they would find themselves in, everything would definitely be alright… in the end. For now she could only pray for their well-beings; as queen she had to be strong for the pride so her only option right now was to keep hope. Therefore she suppressed her worries behind a mask of hopeful dignity.

At that moment Scar entered the den. She didn't hear him coming in as his sly silhouette slipped within her comfort zone. She looked up into a face she didn't want to see, certainly not now. Scar had a smirk on his face as his big, green eyes beamed into her threatened composure.

"Oh my dear Sarabi, what are you doing here… all alone?" he asked in a too optimistic tone.

"What do you want?" she simply responded, not hiding any sense of irritation.

"Hmmm it seems you are not in the best mood today, I guess."

"Say what you _have_ to say, Scar!"

Scar fell silent for a moment, slightly taken aback by the queen's venomous reactions. He was here to announce his triumph, though it would trigger the uttermost feeling of despair for the queen. Today he had won all he ever wanted, but she had lost everything she had ever hoped for. The only thing that separated Sarabi from the endless sorrow was the fact that he hadn't told it her yet.

He decided to make an end to all uncertainty.

"Well, to be honest, I am here to tell you… something." he continued in a somewhat careless tone.

"You and being honest? Ha, tell me another joke. But what is it?"

"… Thanks for the compliment; I want to talk with you about Mufasa and Simba. Something has happened to them."

Sarabi's face fell by hearing the names of her loved ones. Her sarcasm turned into anguish which started to torment her hopeful feelings. She had already felt somehow that things might have turned out wrong, though she didn't want the confirmation that would ruin her entire life.

"What do you mean, Scar… what do you mean with 'something has happened'? Please tell me they're alright, tell me they're alright!"

"They're not."

At least that last statement made some sense about what had been going on the past few hours. However, some part of her didn't want to know it though she knew she had to deal with the consequences sooner or later. Therefore she continued her questioning as she prepared herself for a terrible message.

"Can you at least tell me they are alive? They are still alive, aren't they?"

She continued as Scar didn't provide an answer.

"Please don't say that something terrible happened to them and that they… died…?"

Scar's face looked ice-coldly and didn't betray any emotion as his emerald-green eyes burned the news into her already tortured heart:

"Sarabi, Simba was in the gorge today when a stampede of wildebeests passed through. I called Mufasa and he tried to save his son, but he was too late… after that he tried to get himself in safety. He started to climb the gorge wall and I tried to help him with getting up, but he didn't make it… he fell back into the stampede. Nothing could be done for him…"

"No… no… that's not true. Say me it's not true, say it's not true!" Sarabi's eyes widened as she responded with her voice trembling.

"It is true."

Sarabi's world stopped at this very moment. She just stared with an empty look to the messenger that just told her the news which would consume her thoughts for the next days, for weeks, for months. No, today's events would haunt her for the rest of her life. The love of her life, her soul-mate, and her best friend in the world she had known for almost her entire life was gone. There were too many things that she would have to miss… forever.

He would never come home again. She would never see his beautiful face with his strong muscular features again. She would never sleep next to him again while experiencing the feelings of joy and security she had almost taken for granted for so long. She would never hear his strong but affective voice again. She would never be able to experience the happiness family life had brought her again. And there was much, _much_ more she would have to miss from the moment Mufasa left her world, paralyzing and persecuting her to a hollow life.

The worst thing of this was that he had taken their son with him. If Mufasa was the light that brightened her life, then Simba was the air that made her breath. He was her hope and future and the symbol of the love between Mufasa and herself. With her mate's death, the only true part of him that would remain in this world had joined him. That was simply unfair, cubs didn't die. It made her situation even worse as everything she lived for seemed to have collapsed in only a few moments. At this very moment, she had lost all hope.

Scar watched her without saying a word. Somehow he seemed to enjoy her sorrow, as if it fed the joy that had been restrained from him for so long. He completely ignored her intense desperation as he changed the conversation into the formal announcement of his coronation.

"I am going to call the pride together to announce the news. Then the ceremony will take place. Good luck."

Sarabi didn't protest about Scar's rude behavior; she didn't even react. At that moment she didn't care a bit about Scar and she even barely noticed he left the royal den. Her concern wasn't Scar's coronation or what would happen if he would become king. She thought about her family that had so rudely been taken away from her. She simply couldn't accept it and only thinking about what had happened already tore her heart apart. She couldn't bear the thoughts that she would have to live without the two lions she loved the most of everyone and everything in the world. However, she knew she had to; there was no other possibility than acceptance and moving on as would be expected of the queen, though she didn't have an idea how she could ever overcome a heartbreaking tragedy like this. She felt her sorrow and pain boiling up; she let one magnificent roar of overriding pain and frustration.

At that moment Sarafina entered the den. Her face looked worried and it became even worse when she saw the horrible state her friend Sarabi was in. Sarafina had somehow seen this coming. She still hoped it wasn't the thing she had feared.

"Sarabi… are you ok?" she asked though it was obvious the queen was not.

Sarabi didn't respond. She only stared with a numb expression through her friend, beyond the horizon somehow hoping it would bring her loved ones back.

"Sarabi… please say something!" Sarafina almost pleaded.

She snapped from her trance. She looked at her friend for a moment and then she finally broke. She totally broke and collapsed into Sarafina's paws. The shocked lioness put her paws around Sarabi's neck and tried to comfort her and she knew it was the only thing she could do at that moment.

"They are gone! They are gone! My darlings are gone!" she cried.

Her sobs became louder and heavier and didn't allow her to say another word, but no words could describe the tearing pain that had struck her and that would never go away.

The pieces were coming together for Sarafina. Mufasa and Simba were dead. Nala had been right. It was just too much to take for her; she couldn't realize the impact yet. She couldn't think of a new day without the king and prince being around. She barely knew how she would survive the current day that had already blackened their hearts forever. All she knew was that she would have to be there for her daughter and the pride. The most of all she would need to be there for her best friend that had lost her entire family in one day and was now crying her heart out in her paws. Their lives would never be the same again.


	6. The Restless Warrior

**The Restless Warrior**

Scar had called the pride together to announce the tragic news what would be followed by his ascension of the throne. He looked down to his fellow pride members who would become his subordinates in only a few moments. The expressions on their faces were a mix of uncertainty and confusion as most of the pride did not know what had happened yet. Only Sarabi and Sarafina were totally aware of the tragedy at the gorge, although the queen tried to remain as strong as possible. However, her red-swollen eyes indicated something was terribly wrong.

Watching their faces of anguish Scar felt a certain satisfaction. Finally he had succeeded with his conquest for the kingship; finally he had obtained the thing he most desired: power. His lust for power had grown during the years he had lived anonymously in the shadows of Pride Rock. He had despised Pride Rock and its inhabitants who felt happiness and joy which had already been drained away from him long ago. Now he was finally able to replace this lost time for a future in which he would set the rules.

Faking the most empathic expression he was capable of he started his speech:

"My dear pride members, I am here to announce some absolutely devastating news. Today has become a day of intense darkness and sorrow due to a heartbreaking turn of events. I have to announce the death of the great king Mufasa who died today during a wildebeest stampede."

A shiver of horror went through the pride. Most lionesses wouldn't believe what they just heard; they couldn't accept the king was dead. Some looked at Sarabi who was barely able to remain strong. She wiped away some tears. Zazu landed next to her with the grief written on his face as he tried to comfort her a little bit. They all looked to Scar who continued his speech:

"Although the death of a great king is a tragedy no one wants to witness, the circumstances under which this tragedy occurred made it far worse than it already is. The king died while trying to save his son, our prince Simba, who had become trapped in the stampede."

Everyone gasped realizing Mufasa had died for his son's sake. He had sacrificed his own life to continue the Circle of Life. This would make their grief even worse; a great king who died a noble death would be predestined for an immortal memory of greatness. However, on the other hand his missing would affect the pride even deeper. Many lionesses felt shocked but also uncertain since they didn't know yet anything about Simba's fate and could only pray he would be alright. No one had seen him around; this indicated the worst possible fate for the prince no one wanted to believe.

"The king and father were willing to give anything for his son, even if it would include his own life. However, his sacrifice would not be honored by the spirits of life; Simba didn't make it either and died in the stampede."

Sarabi lost it at that moment. Heavy sobs escaped from her throat and her troubled face made her look much older than she actually was. In fact she may have aged a lot that day, affected by the horrible loss of her family. All lionesses looked troubled; realizing prince Simba was dead either. The death of the cub inflicted the lionesses even more because it felt to them as something against every law of nature. It was too much injustice to cope with at once. The most affected lionesses were those who were mothers themselves: Simba's loss made them think about what they would do if they would lose their own cub. No lioness knew the answer to that question other than they would die from grief. Realizing that they knew Sarabi actually had to come up with an answer, not only as mother but also as queen. They realized she had to overcome a tragedy they couldn't even think of. On top of that she had lost her mate too. The only support she had left would come from the pride and some lionesses promised themselves they would help her the best they could. They all felt an intense compassion for the queen who had lost her mate and son on the same day. Sarabi had lost her entire family at once, but at least she hadn't lost the respect and affection from the pride. There was still hope.

"Mufasa's death is a terrible tragedy. But to also lose Simba, who had barely become to live. For me it is a deep, personal loss. It is therefore with a heavy heart that I assume the throne."

Everyone watched Scar ascending Pride Rock. It was the moment he had waited for, the moment he proclaimed his royal title. The lionesses knew it was inevitable that this would happen since Mufasa and Simba were dead, but the shock was still too big to accept that Scar would be their king from now on. No one really liked him, but they all knew that becoming king would be a hard and painful duty for him. Scar would have to deal with the death of his brother and nephew either while trying to keep the pride together.

It was then that the night sky filled with sinister laughing that seemed to come from everywhere. The lionesses looked around and saw one of the most horrible things they could think off. Hyenas were approaching Pride Rock in large groups, while laughing out their strong lust for sharing in the wealth of their new lion king. Scar seemed to ignore them while proclaiming his victory:

"But out of the ashes of this tragedy we will rise together as lions and hyenas for a great and glorious future!"

They couldn't believe their ears! Scar was voluntarily allowing hyenas in the Pride Lands, who had been banned by his father Ahadi as a punishment for Avina and Shaka's deaths. The very same clan was allowed in the Pride Lands in a time of deep mourning. Besides that, their only purpose was to share in the Pride Land's prosperity without contributing anything themselves. Uzuri shook her head in disapproval and disappointment.

"Scar, do something!" Sarabi cried, "we have to stop them."

"We will not do anything. From now on, the hyena ban approved by King Ahadi is gone. Even hyenas are part of the Circle of Life, aren't they?" Scar asked sarcastically.

"If you don't stop them, we will!" Sarabi reacted furiously, "these monsters killed my parents and I will never allow them in the Pride Lands!"

"Unfortunately for you, but you have nothing to say about that any more. From now on I am king and I release you from your responsibilities as queen. This means you are no longer queen and that you will have to listen to me and to do what I tell you." Scar smirked.

"You better run, that is what I would tell you!" An unknown voice roared.

Scar gasped. It couldn't be. He heard a voice that sounded too familiar. It was the voice of someone he didn't expect to hear, but he definitely didn't want to hear. He turned around and looked right into the face of his supposed late brother Mufasa. His face dropped and his knees trembled as he looked into the furious and merciless eyes of the lion he had just proclaimed dead.

"Mufasa?" he plainly asked, "no you're dead!" Scar didn't want to believe what his own eyes told him.

"I am not as dead as you wish I would be", Mufasa coldly responded.

While Scar felt his most horrible nightmare coming true, Sarabi felt a dream coming true. The lion she loved the most of anyone in the world was alive; he was actually standing in front of her and his appearance filled her with pure joy. She couldn't understand how it was possible for him to be alive. However, it didn't matter as she ran towards him to nuzzle him more than she thought she never would again.

"Mufasa, my love, why are you here? I love you so much!" Her question sounded stupid, though she didn't care about this at all. She buried her face in his manes and cried again. However, this time they were tears of happiness.

"I am here because I love you too, my beautiful queen", Mufasa responded while nuzzling her back, "and I always will. However, it seems that some cleaning up is needed here."

Mufasa looked again at Scar who was shockingly staring at the reunited couple with his eyes full of disbelief. Scar had killed this lion himself, it couldn't be that he was alive. Everything he had planned, everything he had hoped for seemed to fall apart right now. He seemed out of options, though he was willing to do anything to save his guilty face. When he looked into his brother's face he saw the rage filling it, waiting to be released in any moment. With every second passed, Scar knew he had to fear for his life.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip you apart right here", Mufasa spoke in a threatening tone.

"Please Mufasa, let me explain…"

"Yes, Scar, I will. Explain why you have tried to kill your own brother who had always been there for you. Explain why you have a lust for power that is stronger than any sense of morals which made you commit attempted regicide. Explain also why you had to involve an innocent cub in your wicked plan who was your own nephew. Why did you have to take Simba away from us, Scar, please explain!"

The pride was stunned; they couldn't believe what they had just heard. Scar had tried to kill Mufasa? He had tried to kill his brother and nephew in order to become king? The idea that this monster became almost their king sent a shiver through their bodies. It was a miracle Mufasa was alive, though Simba still seemed to be dead. The battle wasn't over yet as they were still threatened by dozens of hyenas waiting to strike. However, every lioness knew that if it would come to a battle they would fight for their one true king Mufasa.

During his speech Mufasa had walked a few steps. It was then that Scar noticed the limp he was walking with. The fall in the gorge had taken a lot from him; he was severely injured though his mind was as strong as ever. Scar noticed his physical weakness and at that moment he knew that not everything was lost for him. Mufasa had always been the one with strength, but now that strength was mostly gone. Scar still had the brains and he knew he would overthrow his brother with that again. Besides that, he still had the hyenas that backed him up.

"O my brother, rising from death must have made you hallucinating. Of course I didn't want to kill you nor Simba. It is so awful he is gone and it hurt me that you blame me for that. I would never hurt anyone, especially not a cub, and you know that well. You better take some rest Mufasa as I see you don't feel well."

"Liar! You don't know anything about someone's welfare as you only try to destroy it from the ones who loved you!"

Scar's eyes widened. Mufasa was too determined to give in as the fury spat from his eyes.

"Live with it, Mufasa. And don't insult me any more than you have already done or I will have to take unfortunate action."

"Who do you think you are, Mr. King? Please step down! The next time I will not ask it that politely!" His brother's arrogance really pissed him off.

"You may show me some respect as indeed the roles have switched."

"You have lost all reasons to earn respect. You cannot take something that is not yours. You are no king since the true king is still alive."

Scar closed his eyes. "I have just proclaimed my kingship. Sorry, but you are too _late_." He almost spat out the last word.

"Then I fear king Scar has to leave very soon. Step down, Scar and I will spare you."

"Are you going to kill your own brother?"

"No Scar, I am not like you. However, you still have to face the consequences for what you have done."

"O Mufasa, I would rather have accepted you request. However, there are some friends of mine who believe I am king now."

Hyena laughter seemed to come from everywhere. Mufasa knew they were with many and they were out to take his life. However, he still had the pride to count on, didn't he?

"We will only accept Mufasa as our king. He is our strong leader and a fair ruler who we will always support in favor of anyone, especially a traitor like you Scar", Sarabi spoke as she stepped proudly forward to share the sentiment among the pride.

Mufasa smiled hearing the beautiful words of his mate. He looked furiously back to Scar, not willing to let it take any longer.

"You have heard their words Scar; you will never be accepted as king by the pride."

"Then we have a serious problem here, I guess."

"Then _you_ have a serious problem. What do you want Scar? Step down or fight."

"I would rather go for option three."

"And that is?"

Scar smirked. This was the moment he had waited for. He looked behind and saw the hyenas approaching, ready to strike at any moment. Now was his time.

"Kill him."

Mufasa couldn't take them. Before he realized it he was brutally smashed to the ground by the hungry hyenas that brutally started clawing and mauling him. He screamed of intense pain that hurt his already bruised and broken body even worse. However, at the moment the hyenas attacked the lionesses attacked too, turning Pride Rock into a horrible battlefield with hyenas and lionesses fighting each other. A few lionesses managed to reach Mufasa's body where they formed a leonine shield in order to protect their supposed king. All reason seemed to have left Pride Rock at that moment; the lionesses and hyenas cared only for each other's blood.

Sarafina had managed to get her daughter into safety. Now she was overlooking the battlefield and it had become a horrible place. Everywhere she looked she saw hyenas and lionesses scattered around the place. Some still showed signs of life, though they were in great pain. They needed medical help that was absolutely impossible now. She saw Sarabi with a killer instinct she had never noticed before, the queen was furiously taking down hyena after hyena. Pride Rock had turned into a disgusting chaos.

No one noticed Scar. Lionesses and hyenas rushed for each other, ready to take each other's life. They didn't pay attention to the traitor who had all started this. It was typical for Scar as he was usually ignored by everyone. This time he was standing some distance from the battle, only caring for Mufasa's wellbeing. However, caring was not the right word because he only wanted him dead. Maybe he trusted the hyenas to clear the job or he was simply too cowardly to fight, but he left. He slowly started walking until he was a safe distance away from Pride Rock. Then he ran like hell into the Pride Lands, leaving his last spark of dignity behind.

The king was still alive. Though he was in no condition to fight, the lionesses protected him from the hyenas with their own lives. Therefore Mufasa still had a sort of overview of what happened. He was the first one who noticed Scar's absence. He instinctively felt what Scar might have done, though he still believed his brother was better than that. He walked towards the promontory of Pride Rock and overlooked the kingdom. His fear was confirmed as he saw a black-orange dot moving towards the horizon that he immediately recognized as his inferior brother.

"Coward!" he roared, "even hyenas are above his standards!"

When he thought about it, it wasn't that bad Scar had fled. They only had the hyenas to deal with now and he knew that without their leader there was little left to fight for. However, the moment he felt victory drawing near he was taken down again. The hyenas had broken the line and were now furiously attacking him. He felt the life drained out of him again as several hyenas climbed on him and mauled him wherever they could. He immediately lost the strength to fight back and he felt defeated. He felt stupid; he had risen all the way from the death to be cowardly defeated by the lowest creatures of the food chain. However, his return had at least resulted in the self-chosen exile of Scar. Though he still felt somewhat dissatisfied, he patiently waited for the final blow that would end his life.

But that blow wouldn't come as he felt a large object charging on him, knocking the hyenas away. He looked up and saw a fur he knew so well. He smiled as he rested his head. At that moment a hyena paw hit his head and he fell unconscious.

The battle had sort of stopped. Most hyenas had been killed or had run off like their supposed leader had done. Some had noticed Scar wasn't around, but they still thought he would show up soon. They couldn't think that their leader might have forsaken them. The remaining hyenas had been surrendered by the lionesses. However, the lionesses had stopped their battles too as they witnessed the tragic turn of events. Sarabi had thrown herself on her mate in a desperate effort to save his life. Every lioness and hyena was focused now by what happened at the scene around Mufasa.

The moment Mufasa was taken down by hyenas something had struck Sarabi. She had seen him collapsing and she knew immediately that it was wrong. She knew the pain had driven him to the edge and that he was about to break. He was about to give in and it would mean that she would lose him again. She wasn't willing to let that happen and instinctively she thought of only one thing to do: protecting him at all costs. Before she realized it she found herself on her mate, blocking any hyena to hurt the lion more than he already was.

She looked up in the face of three hyenas she knew quite well. They were Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, the children of Jalkort. They were the offspring of a hyena who had caused her so much trouble and they were the same hyenas who had also attacked her son at the Elephant Graveyard. Though she didn't know it yet, these hyenas had also helped in the plot to kill Mufasa and Simba.

They recognized her too as the leader of the trio, Shenzi, spoke up:

"Please, Sarabi, get away so we can finally restore the balance to the Pride Lands."

"You will not touch him!" the queen answered furiously.

"O yes, we will. As Scar already said, it is not you who determines our actions."

"We are too hungry to allow our main appetite lying around." Banzai added.

Banzai and Ed laughed their butts off. Sarabi felt disgusted as the hyenas spoke about her mate in terms of food. It was her against the hyenas and it scared her. She knew they were right; indeed she couldn't stop them alone. The rest of the pride couldn't help her either; if they would attack the hyena trio would attack her and she would lose it and with that she would also lose Mufasa. What could she do?

She looked at Shenzi and at that moment the pain struck her. It was the pain of loss as she felt the hyenas would once again take a loved one from her. She couldn't accept it and she wouldn't. Beyond despair she pleaded for het mate's life:

"Please Shenzi, spare him. Don't let me suffer more than I already have."

Shenzi frowned. "Why should we save the son of that bastard that marginalized our lives?"

"He is no threat to you anymore. Please Shenzi; realize that if you kill him the Pride Lands will suffer even more. Think about it; there will be no king then so the future of the Pride Lands will depend on some unknown rogue."

"Scar will be king."

"Scar has fled, Shenzi. Didn't you notice that? He has left you to death, the _great _leader he is."

Suddenly the hyenas realized that Scar had indeed gone. He was nowhere to be seen and it gave them an empty and betrayed feeling. They had fought for him, for his kingdom and for a better life under him. Their leader had forsaken them so what was there left to fight for?

"Mufasa will never be the strong lion he used to be. However, I believe he can still rule. I will talk to him and try to convince him we should come to an agreement. I definitely will, but please spare his life. Don't take him away from me as your father took away my parents."

"Your father killed our father! My father didn't kill your mother, Gur'mekh did. However, Shaka cowardly murdered our father! Keep your filthy lies away!"

Sarabi realized this wasn't a very clever thing to say. However, she continued her pleading as losing Mufasa felt like losing her last hope and reason to live for.

"Please Shenzi. My parents may have been wrong, your parents may have been wrong but please don't let us continue these errors through further generations. Your species cannot rule and will never be accepted to rule. We will consider a better place for you, but then you have to start with a first good effort by sparing Mufasa's life."

Shenzi looked at her companions. Banzai and Ed were longing for lion flesh, but when she looked at the others she was shocked as only a fraction of the clan had survived the battle. She knew that by killing Mufasa another battle would follow and that they would probably lose that battle. Besides that, they could never build a stable kingdom without their leader Scar being around. Hyenas weren't meant to rule; they needed a lion to cover them. She definitely hated to admit it but she knew Sarabi's proposal was their best choice for now.

"We will retreat. But watch your step queen; you have not seen the last from us. And if you will not see us soon, the more likely we will strike again."

With that the hyenas followed her on the way back to the Elephant Graveyard. Some were hurt, some were broken but they still had one thing that no one could take away from them: the desire to kill. It would only be a matter of time before their lust for revenge would finally be answered.

Sarabi had succeeded. The pride was safe for now and Mufasa would live to see another sunrise. There was still hope.


	7. Dawn of a New Day

**Dawn of a New Day**

Sarabi

A few weeks had passed but I would never forget that fateful day. The tragedy that made me almost lose my _entire_ family had affected me deeply. I would vividly remember the moment I heard of Mufasa and Simba's supposed deaths. I could vividly recall the feeling of loss and despair that wrapped itself around me and that almost chocked me to death. Somehow I survived, but I definitely needed to find a new way to live with myself. Mufasa's brother might be gone, but he had seeded a lot of namesakes which dominated every aspect of my life in a way he would have liked.

So much had happened on that day. The day had started like any ordinary day with my loving family and pride. However, later that day I would be confronted with de death of my mate and son, the ascension of the throne by his brother whom everyone despised, hyenas invading the Pride Lands, the resurrection of my dead mate, a bloody battle for the kingdom between Mufasa's lionesses and Scar's hyenas and Scar's flight and the last minute retreat of the hyenas. After that the pride was scattered just as my mind was. I had to hold the pride together and to give hope I had lost myself, while trying to save the life of my severely injured Mufasa and dealing with my son's death at the same time. It was exhausting and seemed impossible, but somehow I had managed.

Mufasa was badly injured and he had slipped into unconsciousness. He needed medical treatment immediately. No lioness had any knowledge about medication, but fortunately we had the pride's mandrill shaman Rafiki for this. It broke my heart to see Mufasa like this, but I had to take action or he wouldn't make it at all. I had to be strong and I needed to think straight despite the circumstances we were in. Therefore I assigned two lionesses who would escort Rafiki to Pride Rock as soon as possible. After what seemed like hours but were in fact only minutes they returned with the mandrill. Rafiki seemed like a lunatic to strangers, but those who knew him better were aware of his devotion to and incredible knowledge of medication. When he saw the condition the king was in, he started directly with his treatment. He treated him with some herbs and juices I had never seen before, but they would definitely help he told me. I could only wait while hoping everything would be alright. However, after some time Rafiki walked out of the den towards me with a sad look on his face. I feared the worst and it nearly was. Mufasa was in a so called 'coma' and at first I didn't understand what he meant with that. All he could tell us was that he didn't know if and when Mufasa would wake from this possible everlasting sleep.

I almost broke at hearing his saddening message. There he was, my beautiful mate, alive but still unreachable. I had to live with the uncertainty whether I would ever hear his beautiful voice again, but there was no other option. I would take care for him every day with all my love as it was the closest I could get to him at that moment. He was brought to the royal den where his recovery would start. He needed to rest all day, while we could only hope he would awake. Every day Rafiki would treat him the best he could and he would report about his condition. Mufasa was still the one that held me together. He gave me something to live for as a part of me had died with Simba's death.

I could barely think of my son. It simply hadn't happened, he couldn't have died. I often told myself he was still alive somewhere and that he simply didn't want to return. It was a foolish thought of course, but it softened the pain a little. Every single day I was reminded of Simba. In his young life the cub had already given me so many memories of him which I would cherish but which also hurt a lot. It hurt me the most when I saw Nala alone and without her best friend. She had lost her friend and playmate and she took it heavily. She was nothing like the playful cub she was before the stampede. I often tried to comfort her and to spend time with her as she made me feel Simba was still alive. However, he was not as I was reminded every night when the spot where he used to sleep was empty. I had to find a way to live with this and I had to do it alone as Mufasa was still in his coma.

Sometimes I broke when it felt like it was simply too much to take. As a queen I tried to give hope and optimism and therefore I only expressed myself in private. The only one I talked with about my true feelings was Sarafina. She also needed to comfort Nala and in return I tried to support her in this. We became even closer than we already were. She made me feel like I wasn't alone. However, when the night fell and the pride entered the den for a well earned sleep the empty spot broke me up. I ran off while ignoring everyone to a place where I could pour my heart out in solitude. The family I loved with all my heart had been broken and had made scars of which I knew they would never heal.

A week had passed since the accident when I was sitting in the den. I was keeping Mufasa company; something I had been doing a lot during the past week. When I wasn't hunting or busy with other things I would usually keep him company making sure he was safe, fed and warm. Rafiki would give his daily medication and he made sure Mufasa got the best possible treatment.

As I had been doing a lot those days I was sunken in my own thoughts when I heard a weak but very familiar voice speak.

"S-sarabi…?"

I looked up. Did I hear it right?

"Sarabi?"

I looked at Mufasa and I couldn't believe my eyes. His eyes had opened a little and he had turned his head towards me.

"Sarabi… my Sarabi…"

Tears filled my eyes. It was such an emotional and relieving moment to hear his voice again and to know that he was still alive. The tears streamed down my cheeks as I softly nuzzled his face.

"Mufasa… my love I cannot tell you how happy I am that you are alive. I thought I had lost you for the second time." A sob escaped from my throat.

Mufasa blinked his eyes which weren't used to the daylight yet. He sighed as if he was trying to understand what was going on.

"Sarabi, what is going on? Where is Simba? Where is our son?"

I was broken again. He seemed to have lost his memory and it made it even more painful for me to let him relive the horrible realization of Simba's death. So far I couldn't speak as I could only cry my heart out. I pressed my head in his manes and I felt how they became wet by my tears.

"It is ok my love. I am ok and everything will be alright", he tried to comfort me.

"No it is not!" My sudden outburst scared him, "I am sorry, Mufasa. I don't mean to scare you and I am very happy that you feel better but you are not alright yet. Besides that our son is dead." I felt immediately sorry for the stupid way I confronted him with the news.

"What did you say? No it is not… Simba cannot be dead…"

He dropped his head and moaned, obviously in pain. I was shocked and I felt guilty at the same time. If something had happened to him because of my harsh confrontation I would never forgive myself.

"Please… I remember… get Rafiki." He closed his eyes.

After some scary moments Rafiki told me Mufasa was exhausted and weakened, but that he would be alright. He would need a long time to recover. In the beginning he wasn't allowed to walk or to stress himself. He had to stay in the den in which he would eat rest and recover. He felt bored, but for me it was a breakthrough. I felt no longer alone.

Of course I had Sarafina to talk to, but it wasn't the same as to Mufasa. He had lost his son either and from now on we could share our sorrow and we could talk about it. We didn't do this a lot in the beginning. I didn't want to upset him and it seemed that he didn't want to talk about it either. I kept on holding everything for myself and this didn't work. One night I was confronted with this when I was weeping outside the den on the edge of Pride Rock. Mufasa had walked out the den and had found me crying. Somehow he knew that he would find me like this. However, I didn't feel betrayed but I felt comfortable. He told me that I shouldn't do this; we should share our feelings and pain and I shouldn't pour my heart out to no one when I had him. He couldn't be more right and from that night we laughed and cried together. Despite the pain it brought us we also tried to think of good memories of Simba so that we would remember him in a happy way. Something that occurred to me was that Mufasa took Simba's death heavily and that he still not seemed willing to accept it. He accepted that we had lost Simba, but not that he had died. I wondered about this attitude, but he couldn't explain this quite well. The same was for the way he had survived the stampede. I asked him multiple times how he could have survived such a fall, but he didn't want to go into details about this. Maybe it was very painful for him, so I didn't want to press the subject further than needed. He would talk about it when he needed to, I thought.

* * *

Mufasa

The first week was a total blur for me; in fact I didn't remember it at all. Later I was told that I had been in a coma, though I still didn't understand what that was. Rafiki had explained this as being asleep when you are not sure to wake up again. Luckily, after a week I did wake up and I was filled with joy as I saw my beautiful mate Sarabi. While I felt comfortable and relaxed when the first light entered my eyes again, Sarabi made a threatened and hurt impression to me. I asked for Simba, but then I learned what was going on. The devastating news took my breath away. I felt defeated and incredibly tired. I became numb and sick of pain in a too short amount of time which was simply too much to take for me. I mumbled some last words before I hit the solid rock ground again.

It was the first day of my long recovery in which I couldn't do much more than rest and think which didn't help me a lot given the circumstances I was in. Rafiki told me I wasn't allowed to walk; in fact I couldn't even leave the royal den. I felt like a prisoner in my own kingdom, though I knew it would be for my own sake. This left me spending my days thinking about the future. However, I would get several visitors during the day. Rafiki would visit me every day to treat me and to give me advice about the things I should do and which I shouldn't. Unfortunately during the first weeks most things were things I shouldn't do so this didn't make me more optimistic than I already was. Of course Zazu would visit me and give his morning reports about the kingdom; since I couldn't experience things myself I was forced to listen to this with even more interest than usual. On those days I truly learned to pretend that I was listening. Sometimes other animals would visit me about things happening in the kingdom and I tried to give them a wise advice. Luckily Sarabi took almost fully care of the kingdom as I couldn't do my patrols I usually did. I really admired her for this; she seemed even more heartbroken as I was, but this didn't withhold her from going on and taking her responsibility as queen. Even in times of great suffering and pain she is willing to sacrifice herself for the pride. This gave me the opportunity to focus on my recovery and to enjoy the company of the ones who visited me because they seemed truly interested about my wellbeing. Many lionesses would visit me which I truly appreciated, but I cared most for the company of Sarabi. We were close, we loved each other, but we were also deeply hurt. Our hearts had been ripped apart and they had left a big hole which contained everything we had lost with Simba's supposed death.

While the days were long for me, I started to realize that I had to live with the scarring memories for the rest of my life. Scar had trapped Simba in the wildebeest stampede and he had tried to kill me as well. Simba had been exiled and I had returned from my supposed death to conquer Pride Rock once again. Scar had fled as the coward he is and peace had come to the Pride Lands. However, my inner mind was at war. I couldn't live with myself not knowing what had exactly happened to my son. I felt like I had failed him; I had failed to protect him and now he had to suffer because of me. Personally I thought it was even worse, in fact I didn't believe he was still alive as he would have returned by now. The uncertainty turned into a painful realization that we had lost him and this had brought a great sorrow over Sarabi and me. Now we had to run a kingdom while holding ourselves together, which seemed like an impossible task.

We both had our grief in our own way. In fact we didn't talk about it that much as we should have done during those days. She must have lived with a huge pain as she had thought she had lost both Simba and me. I was alive, though I didn't talk about this very much. I still found it hard to explain to myself how I was granted a second chance in life; therefore I didn't feel that I should try to explain it to someone else even if it was Sarabi. I just told her I escaped death and that was not really a lie. Sarabi lived with the pain of losing her son, while I lived with the uncertainty whether we had lost our son or that he had really lost his life. I assumed Simba was dead, though I couldn't share my thoughts and uncertainty with anyone. This frustrated me and if this was true it would frustrate me even more. Why was I allowed to live, while an innocent cub would be dead? Why would an old king be granted a second chance to live, while a young life is taken away at the same time? This was against Circle of Life in every sense and against everything I believed in. Therefore this couldn't have happened. Simba had to be alive, but the uncertainty almost killed me.

Our pain was reflected in the depressing state Nala was in since the fateful day in the gorge. She was obviously hurt by the loss of her best friend and it hurt me to witness her pain of which I felt I could have prevented it. I also felt I could have prevented what happened between Sarabi and me, though I knew we both shared a part in this. We should have done this better.

As we didn't talk about our pain, we started to estrange from each other. We still loved each other, but we had abandoned the emotional connection we had before the accident. We closed our hearts for each other and realizing this brought us in even more pain. For me it was an almost unbearable situation which had to stop. It did one night.

That night I was alone in the den. Despite I wasn't allowed to move yet I tried to walk outside to catch some fresh air. I was wondering where Sarabi could be as she would usually keep me company around that time. The hunt had already taken place and it had been a good one. Despite that she still hadn't been happy which she had barely been since I had awakened from my coma. Thinking it over I found her on the promontory of Pride Rock. I was immediately shocked. She was obviously weeping; I could see her shoulders shaking from grief. Without making a sound I approached her with a horrible feeling in my gut. It felt so horrible to see her like this and knowing why she was sobbing made me feel guiltier. I felt guilty because I knew she chose to grief alone. She preferred loneliness above me and I knew this was my fault. I hadn't been the support I should have been and I decided I would try to make it up to her right now.

"Sarabi…?" I asked.

She looked up and felt betrayed. She didn't want me to see her like this.

"Please… don't cry" I almost whispered. It sounded stupid and in fact it was.

She started sobbing even louder.

"_Our_ son…" It was the only thing she managed to say.

Her words struck me. She said everything in only two words. Everything we were going through was about our son and we hadn't dealt with it that way. I felt horrible.

"I am so sorry, my love. I am so sorry that I haven't been there for you the way I should. I feel absolutely horrible to see you like this and I don't want you to do this. You don't have to go through this alone… not anymore." I spoke with a big lump in my throat.

She looked in my eyes, tears still streaming down her beautiful face.

"I missed you so much… and I still do. It's all my fault"

I could feel the tears streaming down from my eyes. She was right in every sense, but with this realization I hoped we could make a fresh start.

"It is not _your_ fault. It is _our _fault and I will make it up to you. I promise things will get better. We will get through this for ourselves… and for Simba."

As I spoke those final words we pulled each other in a tight hug. I felt she would never let me go, neither would I. We didn't need words; we only needed each other. It was a great moment which truly was the turning point we definitely needed. We had cried together and from now on we would laugh together again. Our lives had been saved; our next step would be Simba.

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**Author's Note: Unfortunately I am not able to update soon! The next update may take an even longer time than it did so far. However, I _will_ update_, _that's for sure.**


	8. The Dream Lives On

**Author's Note: Thank you very much for your enthousiastic reviews! I really appreciate it and I hope more of my readers will take the time to leave a comment or review. I also want to thank all other readers for showing interest in my story. All support has been rewarded: it really motivated me to continue with this story. Enjoy!**

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**The Dream Lives On**

He had been here before. He had been here some time ago, on a morning which started as bright and beautiful as the blue sky promised today. On that day some time back the blue sky got blurred by grey clouds of dust which had blinded his sight. Now he wasn't blind at all. He was nearing the gorge in which it had all happened. It took some courage from him to come back at the place which has haunted him through life and nightmares during the past weeks, but this didn't withhold him from going back. After all Mufasa was a strong lion.

"Help!"

He heard a voice coming from inside the gorge. First he was hesitant to come any closer to the edge where he could actually overlook the gorge with all its painful memories, but he felt he had to follow the voice. The voice seemed to sound somewhat familiar to him.

"Help!"

Mufasa looked into the gorge and he saw the source of the voice: a lion cub was desperately fighting for his life. Hanging on the cliff with only his front paws separating him from a tragic death. His fear was clearly visible in his amber eyes.

However, that wasn't the thing that Mufasa bothered the most. What bothered him the most was the fact that he knew this cub. The voice had sounded familiar to him, now he knew the cub was actually related to him. The cub was his own son.

"Simba!"

Simba's eyes widened when he recognized his father. It filled him with hope again, hope he had almost lost already.

"Dad! Help me!"

Mufasa was totally aware of the critical danger his son was in. How could this have happened? Why was Simba at such a dangerous place in such a dangerous position? However, he had no time to think; he needed to act immediately.

"Hold on son!"

Without further thinking he tried to reach out as far as he could so he would be able to save his son's life. His desperate effort wasn't enough, at least not yet.

"Almost there, son. Just a little further…"

He tried to let his son regain his lost confidence. Some mentally support could give him new hope, making the difference between dead or survival. The situation seemed to become better as father and son could almost touch each other.

"Watch out dad!" the anguish spat from Simba's face.

Mufasa felt a terrible pain in his back. Somebody tried to push him down as he felt sharp claws digging in his fur. He looked over his back into the evil smirk of his brother Scar.

"Long live the king", the black-maned lion spoke in a sinister tone.

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!" Simba screamed.

It was the last thing Mufasa would ever hear him saying. Pure terror paralyzed the king as he saw his son falling to his death.

"Noooooooooooooooooooo!"

He couldn't believe what he just saw, but there was no time to think about it now as he was also in serious danger himself.

"It's your fault Mufasa! You killed your own son!" Scar's face seemed to become more evil with every dreadful word he fired at him. It scared the hell out of him.

"No, I didn't mean for this to happen!", he desperately fought back, "It wasn't my fault! You did this! You want to kill us all!"

Scar grinned of the anxious position his brother was in. he was truly enjoying the moment which would result into _his_ moment soon.

"Now the little hairball is gone I only want to kill you… all for your _beloved_ kingdom."

Mufasa's eyes grew wide. He heard a terrifying laughter coming near: Hyenas! The slobbering poachers came from everywhere, surrounding him. They put up a deadly trap for the losing king. Any chance of escape had become impossible for him.

"Everything the light touches falls apart, _brother_. Everything I wanted to live for fell apart for me. Now it's time to take back what is mine. Now it's time for you to face _real_ _pain_. Enjoy the taste of something that is new for you… enjoy the taste of _losing_…"

Scar roared out loudly and leaped on his massive brother. It caught Mufasa off-guard and he lost his balance. Scar struck him across his face which made him fall… over the edge all the way down in the gorge. Within seconds it would be over.

"Noooooooooooooooooooo!"

All Mufasa saw was stone. He looked around trying to understand what was going on. He was looking at the ceiling of Pride Rock's royal den. He was safely home and when he looked next to him he saw Sarabi peacefully sleeping. The rest of the pride was also still sleeping inside the den. Outside the sun had already risen. Scar was gone. Simba was still gone as well.

"What a horrible nightmare", Mufasa murmured to himself.

He had been sweating all over his body. The stress had totally awakened him so he didn't feel like sleeping anymore. He decided to take a walk to clean himself and to get things off his mind.

The Pride Lands were in a good condition. In the past weeks Mufasa had almost fully recovered and he was able to enjoy the beauty of his kingdom again. Animals were happy to see their king healthy again and most were already used to the current situation as if it had never been different. Everything was still going great like it had been before the stampede, but something had changed. Simba was no longer around and many places he had been with his son reminded him of this. The memories still tortured his troubled mind. He tried to shake them off and he had sort of learnt to cope with them. He still had moments he felt very bad, but since he was able to share his grief with Sarabi things had become much better. He actually started to enjoy his life again, even though there was still a big hole in his heart only his missing son could fill.

"Hey Mufasa", he heard a cub voice coming from behind. He immediately recognized it as Nala's. She was used to call him by his name instead of a royal title. In her young life the king had already spend a lot of time with her back in the old days… together with Simba.

"Hey Nala. What are you doing up so early?"

"It isn't that early anymore. Sleeping all day is sooooooo boring. My mom must have such a boring life with sleeping and hunting all day. I wanna do something cool!"

Mufasa chuckled about her enthusiasm. It felt good to him to see her happy again. She had taken Simba's "death" terribly, in fact she had lost her best friend. The first weeks she was depressed and didn't want to have any fun like cubs use to do. Now it seemed she had sort of moved on and started to get back her exploring and adventurous mentality. However, there was one practical problem. There were no other cubs to play with since Simba and her used to be the only cubs in the pride. Therefore she tried to find playmates with the adults or with other animals. Zazu was against his will a very popular target in her so called "games".

"Let me help you out." He pulled her near and whispered something in her ear.

"Yeah, that sounds cool! Thank you Mufasa, I'll see you later!"

And away she was. Mufasa smiled seeing her leave knowing he made her day. Now it was time to make something of his own day.

He felt a comfortable spot to relax. First he started cleaning himself. For some time he was enjoying his free time when he heard a familiar voice with a British accent address him:

"Good morning, Your Majesty!"

He sighed. It was done with the silence.

"Good morning Zazu. What is going on?"

"Checking in with the morning report."

"Fire away"

Pretending he was listening to him Mufasa was enjoying the beautiful morning, unfortunately with a chattering hornbill next to him.

"…I asked the elephants what was going on at the waterhole between the rhinos and hippos and you know what? They remembered everything! Too bad I forgot about it…"

"Yeah such a pity", he sighed. _Let him finish quickly _he thought.

".. Some monkeys were really upset because a black and white zebra…"

"Black and white zebra? Are there any different ones?"

"No, but I just recall he was black and white. Anyway the zebra called them stupid baboons which is technically incorrect since they are mandrills. It frustrated them that badly they even told Rafiki about this…"

_Rafiki! I haven't seen him in a long time…_

"… but Rafiki didn't really care about it. He simply stated that there were baboons and that they were not. After that…"

"Zazu, will you excuse me for a moment? I need to go for a very _urgent_ matter."

"Of course Sire. I'll patiently wait for you." He watched the king leave. He waited for some time when he started wondering something:

"… But Mufasa… how can you leave for an urgent matter I don't know about…?"

Of course there was no response. Zazu had been fooled… again.

It had worked! Mufasa finally got rid of his annoying majordomo. However, at least one good thing had resulted from the boring "report". He had decided he would visit his friend Rafiki whom he hadn't see in a long time. Rafiki lived some distance away from Pride Rock inside a big acacia tree. It didn't take that long for the big lion to reach the home of his old friend.

"Hello? Rafiki, are you there?"

He heard some weird chanting coming from somewhere above in the tree, but he couldn't see anything except branches and leaves.

Suddenly a big monkey face appeared out of nowhere inches away from his own face.

"And what are YOU doing here?"

It scared the hell out of the lion king. He fell backwards into the tall grass. He looked up and saw his mandrill friend sitting on a lower branch. Rafiki's face always was a mix between happiness and craziness. Never a dull moment with the pride's shaman being around.

"O crap. Never do that again Rafiki!"

"Hahahaha you never know Mufasa. Life's unpredictable… and so is death!"

He frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's not up to you who should ask the questions, but neither do I!" Rafiki really seemed to enjoy talking in mysterious, philosophical one-liners.

The mandrill jumped down from the branch he had been sitting on. He landed next to his friend and put his hand on Mufasa's shoulder. Mufasa looked confused, not knowing what he should say next.

"Tell me, my diamond friend. What do you truly want?"

Mufasa loved this nickname. Rafiki often called him a diamond. He believed Mufasa was a strong and fair ruler and on top of that he was very open and transparent. He also considered him a beautiful personality. This combination of strength and transparency with beauty gave him the diamond metaphor as nickname.

Before he could properly answer Rafiki already interrupted him.

"Do you want power?"

"Well Rafiki, let's say that…" Rafiki put his hand on his mouth so he wasn't able to talk properly anymore.

"NOOOO you don't because you have already a lot of power! You are king and did it make you truly happy?" He removed his hand so Mufasa could speak again.

"Yes, I am happy to have some power. However, it is not everything since…"

"That's EXACTLY what I am talking about! You may feel happy, but you are not truly happy! You don't really want power; you only want to be a good king and then you need some power. Am I right or not?"

"You are right."

"Do you REALLY want to be king?" he almost sounded angry, pointing with his stick towards the king. Mufasa didn't know whether he was playing with him or that the mandrill was really upset.

"What are you talking about?"

"No, what are YOU talking about? Given that you are king and that you can get everything done what you ask for, what is still bothering you? What's wrong with being king?" He started walking away from the tree.

Mufasa hesitated for a moment. He didn't get what his mandrill friend was trying to tell him. Rafiki loved playing this mind games, but they often had a serious undertone.

"There is nothing wrong with being king, but…" he answered before he got interrupted again. Rafiki turned back so he looked into his crazy face again.

"SOOOOOOO, is there something wrong that is out of your kingly reach?"

"Yes…"

"Is it something that you truly want?"

"Yes"

Rafiki's face suddenly turned into a big smile.

"Congratulations! I knew that the love for your son would go beyond any kingly matter. But what are you waiting for, Mufasa? Go and get Simba!"

_How did he knew he was thinking about Simba?_ Well, he realized that Rafiki really knew him too well. It made him feel happy and sad at the same time because he was still unsure about what to do about Simba.

"But Rafiki how am I supposed to know whether my son is alive? Besides that, how can I leave my kingdom and all of my responsibilities behind?"

Rafiki suddenly pressed his finger onto his nose, obviously pointing out his remarkable views to him.

"Noooooooo Mufasa those buts can kiss my butt goodbye! Why are you talking about the kingdom if you just told me that what you really want is that Simba returns home safely? For that to happen you need to help!"

Mufasa was stunned. He knew Rafiki was right, but he still felt unsure about what to do.

"How are you so sure about that he is alive and why do I need to help?"

On that moment Rafiki hit him on the head with his huge stick.

"OUCH! Geez, what was that for?" he asked.

"Because the Great Kings wouldn't send an old dead lion king back to life for nothing. You are here with a purpose Mufasa; you have a mission. Your mission is to save Simba who _is_ still alive but definitely lost. Without you interfering the kingdom _will_ be doomed…"

"How do you know…?"

"Rafiki knows everything and for everything he doesn't know… Ahadi helps him a little", the mandrill winked.

The king was surprised. The shaman just told him the secret he had kept so carefully all the time since he had returned from "death". He really seemed to know things that were beyond everyone else and given the fact his old friend always had some good advices he knew he had to listen to him. He had save Simba. The only thing was that he didn't have an idea yet how to proceed with this plan, but that didn't matter for now. When he thought deeper about it he felt Rafiki was totally right. He indeed was on a mission. The Great Kings had sent him back to life in order to succeed with this mission. He shouldn't waste the support and trust they had put in him. Support and trust that weren't about him being king, but about being a father. For now he had to stop playing king and start playing a father… again.

"Rafiki, I don't know how to thank you", he started happily, feeling that things finally fell into place for him.

"You shouldn't thank me, thank the Kings! I am only their messenger and being your friend I also support their plans." He smiled.

Mufasa pulled the monkey in an embrace.

"Thank you so much, my friend. You truly gave me the inspiration I was looking for. This father is going to save his son."

They broke their embrace. Rafiki looked happily into the now determined face of his leonine friend.

"Save your son, Mufasa. Save Simba and restore your family and also ensure the future of the Pride Lands. We believe in you, my king."


	9. In the Name of Love

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for all your support! On the day I watched The Lion King 3D in cinema ****(a brilliant experience)** I present you the next chapter. Enjoy!

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**In the Name of Love**

There is always a time of saying goodbye. Saying goodbye can be hard to accept. Sometimes you are ready for it, sometimes you are not. Saying goodbye is however not a matter of being ready. It is a matter of being strong and having the willingness to move on. Today Mufasa had to move on.

Sarabi was a strong lioness. This didn't make her cold and heartless. No, she was strong in a concerned way. She understood the circumstances she was in and she was able to accept them. She could understand why painful things sometimes have to happen. Today would hurt her certainly, but she was willing to move on, without her beloved Mufasa. He would leave the Pride Lands, leaving her in charge of the whole kingdom. She would be responsible for the kingdom from now on which made her realize she had to be strong. Something that wasn't easy knowing that your love and best friend from cubhood would walk out of your life today with the chance that he might never come back. The good thing was that it didn't have to be a final goodbye. Maybe he would come back. It would all depend on Simba's fate. Mufasa would leave his pride, in the name of love for his son.

The news had reached many animals all over the Pride Lands. They had all gathered together at Pride Rock for a goodbye ceremony to their king. They wanted to show their respect one more time before he might leave for good. They all understand the circumstances and they believed he left for a good purpose: saving his son. From the antelope to the zebra, especially the animals who had children themselves, they could all perfectly understand the heartbreaking pain the lion king was going through and how he chose his paternal role on top of his kingship. For them their children were their everything as well, for a king this shouldn't be any different.

Mufasa himself had mixed feeling about the big sacrifice he needed to make. Standing on the promontory of Pride Rock he overlooked his kingdom for the last time. He was surprised that such a large herd of animals had made it all the way to Pride Rock. He felt ready to leave, with enough courage and determination to go for the uncertain. On the other hand he felt scared and sad about leaving the Pride Lands and giving everything up he had lived for all his life. He knew he should come back, alive and along with Simba.

From the amber morning sky descended his hornbill majordomo Zazu, landing in front of him. He bowed a final time for his king.

"Good morning, Your Majesty. May the winds of luck blow with you."

Mufasa smiled without saying anything. Zazu turned away from him, addressing the loyal animals of the Pride Lands.

"Welcome animals of the Pride Lands. We are here to witness the departure of our great king Mufasa from our beautiful kingdom. A flourishing kingdom that is a marvelous place to live for every creature. This was something we couldn't have reached without King Mufasa. He made that today the Pride Lands is not just a random piece of earth. It is a place animals from all over Africa have come to, living in peace in the mile stream of a delicate balance we all call the Circle of Life, inspired by our lion king."

The crowd started cheering loudly. Every single animal wanted to be part of this special moment. With every word Zazu said the crowd became more enthusiastic.

"Today the circle will start a new turn. Our lives will change with a leap of faith that will separate our ways. King Mufasa will follow the path of which we all hope that this will lead to his son and our Prince Simba, while we will endure in strength under the devoted wings of our new leader Queen Sarabi. Let's celebrate life one final time and may the spirit of fortune and prosperity be with you during your journey."

The hornbill enjoyed the enthusiasm his words had brought to the crowd. In fact it didn't have a lot to do with what he said. The animals just wanted to pay tribute to their king and Zazu's encouraging words were nothing more than a coincidental interference of the moment. His words also were a starting sign for other animals who felt inspired to speak up themselves:

"May he go in peace. We will continue in his memory. Let us be inspired by the strong and peaceful spirit of the blessed King Mufasa", an elephant spoke up.

"We hope no tree will be out of his reach. Let him reach out for everything that is important to all of us: our future. We hope Simba will bring the light back to his life and that he will shine back on all of us, ensuring and enduring a long and blissful life", a giraffe said.

"King Mufasa is doing the right thing. We can learn a lot from him. Let him not be forgotten and we hope he will come back alive and not alone", a chimpanzee added.

"Life is balancing between eat or being eaten. It is the Circle of Life that forces all of us in the endless chain of creating and destroying life. King Mufasa didn't change this but he made us see that it is the right turn of events, even though this can be painful. Today is also a right turn of events and it is painful as well. However, we hope that this pain will turn into joy when we realized how great King Mufasa made this place to live and how we could live such a happy life. We also hope that his pain will turn into joy again once he has found Simba." Also the zebra population wished their king all the best.

Mufasa watched the ceremony unfolding beaming with joy. Even though the circumstances were sad, like the zebra had said, he felt honored that so many animals wanted to share with him the moment of goodbye. It didn't really matter whether he was a king or not. He was a Pridelander who was connected to this place he called home like all the other animals did as well. _I will come back_ he promised himself at that moment. He would witness another sunrise in the Pride Lands.

He looked down and he saw how the animals moved aside to make space for their mandrill shaman, Rafiki, to pass through and to ascend Pride Rock. After he had climbed Pride Rock he embraced his king and friend. When they broke their embrace Rafiki spoke his final words to the king:

"We will miss you, my friend. But don't worry, we are strong and so are you. Your effort shall not be wasted."

"Thank you so much, Rafiki. You are a true friend." Mufasa smiled.

"It is fine. Now get away before you're gonna regret it!" Rafiki pointed his stick towards the horizon. "There is where you have to go. Beyond what we see."

His words were the starting sign for a new era. Mufasa descended Pride Rock and headed through the crowd where every animal that he passed bowed for him. He said his final goodbyes to some of them before he headed accompanied by Sarabi and the pride to the northern border where he would say goodbye to his family, sharing a moment of privacy with his loved ones.

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It didn't take long before they had reached the border of the Pride Lands. Since the gorge also started here Mufasa assumed that Simba had probably crossed these borders when he was exiled. However, this was only a vague assumption and the king realized his journey would be a long one.

One by one the pride members said their king goodbye. Mufasa hugged little Nala and embraced her mother Sarafina.

"Take care Mufasa. Always be happy. You are a strong lion", Sarafina spoke.

"Please bring Simba back soon, Mufasa! I miss my friend", Nala said with a glimpse of hope in her voice.

"I will do what I can", he responded with a smile.

He then turned around and looked right into the eyes of his dear Sarabi. Her eyes looked sad, though she had accepted the situation. Still she was having a very hard time.

"My dear Sarabi…"

"You don't have to say anything Mufasa", she interrupted him, "it's okay".

He looked her right into her eyes. "It's not", he stated bluntly.

"Look into my eyes and you clearly see my grief. It's not _that_ that's important right now. I will be sad, but you have to move on. Our paths will separate here, but our hearts will be together forever."

He saw tears filling her eyes, reflecting his own feeling of emptiness.

"Go, my love. Go and love. Love our son and let that love be your guide back to the Pride Lands. I will continue, but I will miss you so much…"

Her last words faded into a strong embrace. She felt Mufasa's warm body close to her own, knowing it could be their last time together. She felt a tear from his eyes, falling like a raindrop on her shoulder. It connected with her own tears that were streaming from her eyes. She simply couldn't withhold them anymore. Mufasa didn't care. His conflicting emotions of sadness, emptiness and determination came together in the few tears that escaped from his eyes. He left his love, but he didn't leave his faith. Things would become better.

They looked each other one final time in the eyes.

"I'll see you soon, my love", he said with a smile.

"You cannot promise that", she smiled back, "but that doesn't matter. Just go, you don't have to say anything to make me love you more. I love you."

"I love you too", he responded. With that he looked to her for one last time before he looked back to the rest of the pride. He simply smiled and nodded, acknowledging and appreciating their presence. He felt a lump rising in his throat which blocked him from saying anything.

"Thank you so much for everything. We will meet again." It were his final words as he walked off, crossing the border of the Pride Lands. His walking evolved in running. He didn't look back anymore. He focused on what was to come: an uncertain life in the middle of a huge dessert.

The pride watched him leave. They all felt sad, watching how their beloved king walked out of their lives. Sarabi felt much worse, almost desperate as the love of her life left her and she couldn't do anything about it. It broke her and she started murmuring the things he had wanted to say to herself.

"Thank you so much, Mufasa. I love you more than words can say. Thank you for being there for me and everything else you did for us. You did much more than you know. You were a greater lion than I could have wished for. I love you so much."

She almost whispered those last words. She couldn't talk anymore as the sorrow had overwhelmed her. She had wanted to tell him so many more things than she had actually done. However, it wasn't really a problem. At least she had let go of her pain. Exhausted she collapsed to the ground. She would be better, but not now. Not yet.

* * *

Mufasa's journey had started today. From now on the days would be long and lonely. He didn't even have Zazu around to bore him. But he didn't really have time to be bored. He needed to think of a plan to find Simba. He had thought of a plan. Because he didn't know in which direction Simba had gone, he chose to explore the area in circles. He would start with the exploration of the land directly surrounding the Pride Lands. If he didn't find his son here, he would start another circle traveling through the land beyond the land he already knew. He would determine his position by using the sun as a point of orientation. The concept of the Circle of Life had taken a whole new direction for him with this plan. He wasn't very fond of it. He also didn't know if everything would work out well, but this didn't bother him. After all, he didn't have a better option.

His first challenge to cross was a vast dessert. He had heard about the dessert from Zazu, but he didn't really know how large it actually was. All he knew was that the days would be hot and that he needed to use every opportunity he had for proper food, water and rest. If possible, he would travel during night from the next day on so he could avoid walking in the heat.

He hadn't walked for long before the sound of the wind was replaced by a different sound. It was a weird sound which he couldn't recognize immediately. He heard voices. Voices that belonged to many creatures. Given the sound of the voices they probably belonged to small creatures. The voices were panicking as if something was definitely wrong. He decided to follow the direction of the voices. He walked upon a small hill so he would have a better sight. Standing on top of the hill he saw something that was clearly wrong. He saw small animals that looked like meerkats running all over the place. They were in big trouble and not because they had been spotted by a lion. There were other animals that were causing their panic and despair. Animals that Mufasa despised to the bone: Hyenas!


	10. A Shining New Era

_******Author's Note: Yes, the wrenching guilt of getting a lot of views and awesome reviews finally brought me to deliver the next chapter. This story will be finised and another update will follow sooner than the last one for sure. For those hardcore fans who are still there after what has been more than a year, please hang on! But most important for all of you, enjoy "A Shining New Era!"**_

**A Shining New Era**

Mufasa´s blood was boiling as he witnessed the scene in front of him. Only the sight of hyenas already pissed him off. Moreover, those hyenas were familiar to him which made it much worse. He knew this trio like the back of his paw. It was not something to be proud of, at least not for them. They had bothered him before. They had trespassed his lands multiple time and every time he had chased them off. They had ruined the hunt, frustrating the pride with hungry mouths that could not be fed. What pissed him off the most was the fact that they had harassed his son. They had threatened the cub with his life, but he had taken their dinner away before it could be prepared. It had happened that day on the Elephant Graveyard, only one day before the tragedy in the gorge. He could not prove it, but he assumed they also helped Scar in the plotted attack on his life. Shenzi, Banzai and Ed were the scum of the earth to him and there was no way he would spare them this time. He roared and attacked ferociously.

The meerkats, who were already in great panic because of the hyenas, started panicking even more the moment they saw him attacking in their direction. They did not know whether they were the target or the hyenas, or both of them. However, they did not even think of finding this out. They were scared to death and were running for their lives. Most of them found a safe place underground, where the predators would probably not look for them. It was the only thing they could hope for.

"Let me get him, let me get him!" Banzai cried the moment he bumped into Ed. The three of them were all chasing the same old-looking meerkat. The meerkat was able to escape because the hyena trio collided into each other.

"You stupid idiot! Our lunch has escaped!" Banzai yammered.

"Mwuahahaha…." It was Ed's usual reaction.

Shenzi sighed. "The two of you are as stupid as a warthog's butt. Stop fighting at each other. We want food, don't we?"

"Yeah, but it is his fault!" Banzai did not want to give in that easily.

"Gwumwuwuwuwu!" Ed's murmuring sounded different, though the other hyenas were too busy with their own egos to notice it.

"Cut it out now!"

"But Shenzi…"

"Whoeeehoeehihihihi" Ed did not cut it out at all.

"What is it Ed?" Shenzi asked a little irritated.

"Uuhm Shenzi, have you ever heard of the lion that survived death itself and returned to kick our asses?" Banzai asked with a trembling voice.

"No, why?"

"Because there he is!"

"Whereaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aah!"

The three hyenas started running away pathetically from the much faster predator that chased them. The scene that had unfolded for the meerkats only minutes ago now repeated itself for the hyenas. Panicking they bumped into each other, reducing their chances to flee from Mufasa to zero.

"What are you thinking you're doing, you..." Banzai spat at Ed, but he could not finish his sentence as Mufasa jumped down on them, almost crushing the trio instantly.

"SILENCE!" the lion king roared.

"Y-y-yes w-we are completely silent", Shenzi and Banzai stammered. Ed was simply nodding, though even he looked a bit frightened.

"If you EVER come in my sight again..."

"N-no that will not happen", Shenzi stuttered.

"Of course not" Banzai added

"No, why should we?" Shenzi asked almost looking confidently.

"Yes, why should we?" Banzai smiled.

"Mwuhahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa", it was Ed's way to agree on something.

"We are in fact surprise to see you alive, Mufasa!" Banzai had almost sentenced himself to death.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhm..." They somehow felt this was a stupid remark.

"I knew it. I knew it from the very beginning that I should have removed the three of you far away from the Pride Lands when I had the chance. It would have saved me the waste of time to prevent you from inflicting more damage then your kind had already done to my kingdom. It would also have saved my life and on top of all my son, which has turned my life into a abomination caused by you and my so-called "brother"."

"You better run. Run, run away and NEVER return" Mufasa remained calm for a second, allowing the hyenas to flee like frightened puppies.

He could have ripped them apart and spilled their blood. But he was not like them, neither like Scar. They had learned their lesson and if not, he would kill them anyway. His tolerance towards hyenas had died with him in the gorge.

Beneath the sand the meerkats had been fearing for their lives. From their hidden position they could only hope that the hyenas would give up their prey and run away. They did not know a lion had saved them, but since silence had returned some of them dared to speak again.

"I was only inches from being ripped apart!" the older meerkat cried.

"It's alright Uncle Max", a fat bottomed female meerkat said, "they are gone now." She put her hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright?! It's alright?! It was never alright! I could have been hyena lunch by now! It has happened again; first with your son and now again and I cannot stand this how..."

"DON'T talk about my son, Max!" the female commanded.

"I am very lucky I can still talk! If I am not killed by those monsters next time, I will die from a heart attack for sure. Those beasts scare the crap out of me and I cannot stand it any longer!" Max continued.

"Sometimes I cannot stand you any longer", the female pointed her finger at his nose and climbed up through the hole they had been digging themselves into. With her face being exposed to the broad daylight again she looked right into a lion's face.

Mufasa had been eavesdropping their conversation interestingly. She almost fainted.

"Please, do not take any longer than necessary", she bowed in front of him.

Mufasa smiled. "Why should I kill a little fellow like you?" he asked puzzlingly.

She looked up at him. Had this rogue lion become crazy?

"Because I am your lunch by now I suppose and I might try to run away, if you prefer to eat me alive."

He started laughing. "You would not be even an appetizer for me, so there is not point for me in doing that. Besides that, if I had been hungry, I would have eaten those hyenas instead."

He had a point there. Maybe this lion wasn't that bad.

"So, why did you save us then?" she asked curiously.

"That is a rather long story, but I can start with a short version. Those hyenas have already bothered me for a long time. It is due to them that I almost lost my life and that I lost my son."

"Your son? What happened to him?"

Mufasa paused for a moment. It was hard for him to talk about the suppressed pain as he felt rage and pain boiling up.

"He was sent away. I do not know whether he is still alive, but I believe he is as long as the opposite has not been proven. And I will find him."

The meerkat kept silent, looking impressed. Here was not just a lion standing in front of her. Meerkats believed all predators only cared about their own stomach. However, this lion proved the opposite as he had a family himself. He was a father and she felt his loss.

"You are a father, I am a mother. You may call me Ma", she introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Mufasa." He nodded with a smile on his face.

Ma walked back to the hole where she had appeared from.

"Max! Come over here!" she yelled, "it is safe!"

Uncle Max' head appeared from the hole. He looked around and saw Ma standing with Mufasa. He dropped back into the hole.

"Geez, it's a lion. Run for your lives, Ma, run!" he yelled from the hole.

"No Max, this lion is different. Do not be afraid."

"Ma, are you nuts? We are talking about a lion. Lions eat guys like us."

"If so, I would not have stand with you anymore."

Max calmed a little and appeared again. She was right in that. However, she could not take all his skepticism towards predators at once.

"So then tell me Ma, why are you befriending this lion? Don't you think he can be a dangerous sort of friend once his stomach is empty? Guess who of you is gonna perish then?"

"Mufasa, this is Uncle Max, but you can just call him Max. He can be a little skeptical sometimes."

"Nice to meet you, Max."

"The pleasure is all mine of course, uhm... sire?" Max did not know how to address a lion as he was used to run away from them. He still did not feel completely comfortable.

Mufasa smiled as the royal title brought good memories back to him.

"So, where are your children?" the lion asked.

Ma sighted and looked to the ground with grief.

"My only son has gone on his journey. He felt that he was different than us and that he did not belong here. I cannot even begin to describe how much I miss him, day after day." she stopped choking back her tears.

This revelation hit Mufasa right into his heart. He could feel her loss.

"My only chance of ever seeing him again is if I travel beyond what I see and go beyond where I can. Please take me with you, Mufasa. We can carry each other, maybe not physically but we can share our loss and our hope to see our children back. I have no doubt you will find your son back; you are such a strong lion. This gives me a small chance to find a clue that might lead me to my son as well." her eyes were filled with tears.

Mufasa and Max were impressed, both with her speech and the whole idea of a lion and meerkat traveling together.

"If that is sincerely what you want and I can understand it is, then come with me", he said, "two parents can see more than one."

"Thank you so much Mufasa; I am so grateful for this opportunity." She wrapped her arms around one of his front paws.

Uncle Max interrupted. "Sorry to bust your bubble, but if you are grateful for an opportunity to throw your life away, then go. I prefer to live a long life in peace and without predators." He shook his head and shoulders. He simply could not understand them.

"Are you sure you do not want to come with us?" Ma asked.

"If I would have been that unhappy with my life, I would not have run away from that hyena", he answered, "good luck and enjoy your meal."

The stubborn meerkat jumped back into the hole. He had nothing left to say, so had Mufasa and Ma. In fact, there was nothing left to say. Therefore they looked at each other.

"Shall we go?" Ma asked.

"Yes, let's do that. We have got some children to save."

Mufasa bowed so Ma could pull herself up at his back via his manes. Once she was seated, they were off.


End file.
